Blog Archives
Time After Time by Louise Pentland – Blog Tour Book Review
About the Book
Sometimes you have to go back, to move forwards.
Tabitha is stuck. She still lives in the small town she grew up in . . . the town she’s barely ever left.
So, when her dad drops a bombshell over their weekly Sunday dinner, Tabitha takes a look at her own life. She lives firmly in her comfort zone and doesn’t know how to break out. Sometimes she wishes she should go back and start it all again.
When she meets Bea, a free spirit like no one else she’s ever known with an ‘interesting’ sense of style, Tabitha quickly befriends her, recognising in Bea the change she’s been craving. But soon it becomes clear that more has changed than her new friend. Somehow Tabitha has been transported back to the 1980s.
With the chance to reinvent herself in another time, will Tabitha finally manage to move forward?
About the Author
LOUISE PENTLAND is the Sunday Times bestselling author of the Wilde novels trilogy and non-fiction book MumLife. She’s the number one parenting vlogger in the UK, with 9 million combined followers across her social platforms. Louise is the creator and host of the podcast Mothers’ Meeting, where she interviews fellow mums and discusses all things motherhood.
Louise featured on the ‘Sunday Times Top 100 Influencers’ list and was crowned as the number one ‘mumfluencer’ by Mother & Baby. She is also a UN Global Ambassador for Gender Equality and an NSPCC Ambassador for Childhood. Louise has filmed with an array of people, from Kim Kardashian to the Pope at the Vatican. She is also involved in the support and encouragement of childhood literacy with charity Bookstart, alongside Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.
Find Louise on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
What I Thought
This book perhaps wasn’t quite was I was expecting going into it but I still enjoyed it and OMG the flashbacks to C&A, coming in from a night out with smoky hair, and shell suits! All of which I do not miss – lol.
Main character Tabitha is 26 and is living a pretty comfortable life. In fact so comfortable that I felt that the character read older than she was. She’s a vintage shop manager with a side hustle as a vintage upcylcler on the gram. She has a boyfriend – David, and there is starting to be talk of babies and marriage.
There’s really two inciting incidents – the first involving a revelation by her dad and the second a time travelling ring.
The time travel aspect was intriguing but it did take a while to get going. There was even a bit where she suddenly went from thinking that what had happened when wearing it was a bit odd, to confessing to her friend she thinks she has magical powers. That actually came a bit out of the blue and had me checking to see if I’d managed to skip a chapter.
The time travel to 1989 is not a permanent thing and instead is something that Tabby can control at will and as such wasn’t used as much as I was anticipating. I also guessed partially why it was happening but the book did manage to add an extra little twist that I didn’t spot until pretty late.
The female relationships were what worked best for me in this book. We had Tabby reconnecting with her mother differently after her dad’s revelation, her best friend Vivi mostly having her back – although there’s tension between them linked to David. And back in the 80s there’s fun and adventurous Bea who I actually liked a lot (and would read more about for sure).
Both inciting incidents do lead Tabby to learn different things and she begins to step outside her comfort zone aided by the female characters around her. I think some reviewers have perhaps felt that Tabby was a little passive but I think that emphasises her character’s arc throughout the book. And who says women have to be entirely independent and oomphy to be valid anyway?
The male characters were also varied – with some of them deserving a slap for their antiquated views – and I’m not talking about the ones from the 80s.
The final 50 pages were pretty emotional as we start to realise how everything across the two time lines fit together.
I almost wish the epilogue hadn’t been included and instead that we would get a follow up following Tabby after the end of the story – and maybe more importantly a prequel focusing on Bea.
Actually randomly I’ve just thought of this comparison – if you like the Mamma Mia movies I think you’d enjoy this.
I received a gifted ARC copy for the purposes of an honest review thanks to Tracy at Compulsive Readers and the publishers. Do check out the rest of the blog tour posts to see what everyone else thought.
Share this on Facebook, Twitter and Google+
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi – Blog Tour Book Review
Jurassic Park was one of the first films I really properly remember seeing in the cinema. Probably because we sat on the front row. I also really enjoyed reading Redshirts, John Scalzi’s homage to Star Trek so when Black Crow PR reached out about receiving an ARC of his new release The Kaiju Preservation Society I bit their arm off! Thanks Jamie and Stephen and Tor for the gifted copy.
About the Book
The Kaiju Preservation Society is a thrilling standalone adventure from bestselling author John Scalzi. With bucket loads of Scalzi traits – pacing, humour and tension – this is a light, uplifting escapist story in a Jurassic Park-like alternate world, perfect for fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky, Charles Stross, and epic monster movies.
In New York City, Jamie Gray is a driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls ‘an animal rights organization’. Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on.
What Tom doesn’t tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at least. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur- like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world. They’re the universe’s largest and most dangerous animal and they’re in trouble. It’s not just the Kaiju Preservation Society whose found their way to the alternate world. Others have, too. And their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die.
“Scalzi’s latest is a wildly inventive take on the kaiju theme”
―Booklist, starred review
“Equally lighthearted and grounded―and sure to delight.”
―Publishers Weekly, starred review
About the Author
John Scalzi is one of the most popular and acclaimed SF authors to emerge in the last decade. His debut, Old Man’s War, won him science fiction’s John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include The Last Colony, Fuzzy Nation, The End of All Things and Redshirts, which won 2013’s Hugo Award for Best Novel. Material from his widely read blog Whatever has also earned him two other Hugo Awards. He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter. Follow him on Twitter @scalzi
What I Thought
In the author note at the end of the book I admired how open John was with us about the challenges he faced in writing in a pandemic – particularly as it sounds like he may have also being experiencing Long Covid at points.
He scrapped the idea he was working on and was supported in a deliverator delay (read the book – you’ll get the reference). And, KPS was the outcome of being allowed to put aside one project and being allowed to follow it with this soul cleanser. Something written for pure joy. A “pop song” amidst the “brooding symphonies” as he calls it.
I really enjoyed it. Fun, pacy, easy to read. Full of characters you want to root for and not see ripped limb to limb. COVID-19 does get a mention early on but then we get to go to a whole new world full of Godzilla type nuclear reactor ecosystems who are called things like Edward and Bella and who need help from the humans to ‘get it on’.
Despite the fun there is serious discussions to be had – if you want them. But you can also just simply read this for pure enjoyment – and isn’t that what we need right now. COVID-19 has been a terrible thing but the rays of light that have shone from the darkness are worth holding onto and this will be one of mine.
Main character Jamie has a serendipitous encounter that leads him on another adventure. Not one he thought he’d be on but one he is eminently suited to. Isn’t life funny that way?
Full of lots of pop, poop and Hamilton references it is very much a book for the now – although soon, the now will be history, and I think this will stand up for future sci-fi readers. It does also include a fair bit of science – so one for the biology, physics and chemistry nerds too – and there is power in being the one who lifts things – look at Luisa in Encanto and everyone who has kept society going through the pandemic.
And if that wasn’t all excellent enough then Wil Wheaton narrates the audiobook – so I’m going to get that for when I’m ready for a re-read.
Ps. He needs a part in the movie adaptation please.
Do check out the rest of the tour which you can follow along with on Twitter and Instagram and using #KaijuPreservationSociety. Opinions and geeking out are all mine.
@scalzi @UKTor @BlackCrow_PR #KaijuPreservationSociety
@Panmacmillan @jscalzi @BlackCrow_PR
Share this on Facebook, Twitter and Google+
Hope Nicely’s Lessons for Life by Caroline Day – Blog Tour Book Review
Be charmed by 2021’s most unforgettable heroine
I’m pleased to be kicking off the blog tour for the delayed release of this wonderful book. They say that things happen for a reason and Hope is definitely something we need right now. Publishing on 22nd July so do grab yourself a copy and delve in.
About the Book
‘In life you meet many people. Some you admire, some you wish you’d never met. Few make you think: ‘When I woke up this morning, I didn’t imagine that I would meet somebody like you.’ When you do, it’s rather like taking a step and finding gravity has relaxed. Hope Nicely is a little like that.’
‘A very special book. Hope is extremely endearing and her rules for life relevant for us all. Really enjoyable’
Katie Fforde
‘A sunburst of a story, full of love, kindness and one of the sweetest, most engaging central characters you’re likely to meet. An absolute joy’
Sarah Haywood, bestselling author of The Cactus
Hope Nicely hasn’t had an easy life.
But she’s happy enough living at 23 Station Close with her mum, Jenny Nicely, and she loves her job, walking other people’s dogs. She’s a bit different, but as Jenny always tells her, she’s a rainbow person, a special drop of light.
It’s just . . . there’s something she needs to know. Why did her birth mother abandon her in a cardboard box on a church step twenty-five years ago? And did she know that drinking while pregnant could lead to Hope being born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder?
In a bid to find her birth mother and the answers to these questions, Hope decides to write her autobiography. Despite having been bullied throughout school, Hope decides to join an evening class where she will not only learn the lessons of writing (including the number one golden rule of ‘show don’t tell’), but may also begin to discover more about the world around her, about herself and even make some friends.
But when Jenny suddenly falls ill, Hope realises there are even more lessons to come . . .
Hope Nicely’s Lessons for Life is the novel we all need right now, a heart-warming tale of loneliness, friendship, acceptance, kindness, and, above all, hope.
‘A heart-bursting book, full of tears, laughter and hope. Gorgeously written with an incredible protagonist, I can’tit recommend enough, it’s FABULOUS’
Jessica Ryn, author of The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside
‘A gorgeous, funny, heart-warming read. Leaves you smiling’
Ericka Waller, author of Dog Days
About the Author
Caroline Day is a freelance journalist and consultant editor, living in Crouch End, married with kids and two dogs. She is an alumna of the Curtis Brown Creative novel-writing course and has written extensively for national media, with a focus on the human side of health and family issues.
She first started writing Hope Nicely’s Lessons for Life as part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and successfully completed her 50,000-word target in the space of a month (although she has since edited it a lot).
Caroline is in close contact with a Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder support group from whom she has received an enthusiastic early response and she does have some personal experience which has both given her the idea for the novel, ‘where Hope comes from’ as she describes it, and huge respect for those living neuro-diverse lives.
About the Audiobook Narrator
Zoe Croft is a multi-award-winning actress and filmmaker who is passionate about representing neurodiverse characters in the media. Her acting career thus far includes appearances in several BBC dramas, including as a series regular in ‘Holby City’. Like Hope, Zoe always wanted to be author. But, like many children who have learning disabilities she struggled in school and was told by a teacher that ‘people like her’ don’t become writers. Nearly a decade later she decided to prove them wrong! Her first short film, ‘Some Way Out’, that she wrote, illustrated and starred in won several awards – including best writer! Zoe is thrilled to be voicing Hope and *hopes* you enjoy the story as much as she did!
Zoe is represented by VisABLE People, an agency which specialises in finding mainstream opportunities for artists with disabilities.
What I Thought
Agents and publishers talk about finding a book with a strong voice so they must have leapt at the chance to represent this one. Although, it is perhaps easier to ‘find the voice’ in a first person narrative, that doesn’t make Hope’s voice any less valid. After all, that’s kind of what the story is about. Finding your voice, speaking your truth, and being your authentic self.
As a writer I loved that the book was structured as Hope’s autobiography and also that the chapters focused on a different aspect of writing a book. It was almost like a mini writing exercise in itself.
The cast of characters are bought vividly to life through Hope’s narrative, with their flaws and strengths on clear display through her literal responses to them, and their responses to her, which aren’t always as positive as I’m sure the readers will be.
Our narrator Hope has FASD (Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder). Although I read a printed ARC I have listened to the sample of the audiobook narrated by Zoe Croft and based on that I’d happily recommend either option. Hope’s voice leaps from the page but Zoe also helps bring her to life.
There are some serious topics considered in the book with her adopted mother Jenny’s illness and her search for her birth mother. And I’m not going to say you won’t need tissues to hand. You will likely laugh and cry, and feel a hundred other emotions.
TW: Suicidal Ideation, Ableism (by some characters against Hope), Adoption.
Do take a look at the introduction to Hope’s Golden Rules (pictured above) – I think a certain government might – flip a pancake – learn something from Hope.
If you’d like to find out more about FASD check out the U.K. Network here: http://www.fasdnetwork.org/what-is-fasd.html
A huge thank you to Tracey at Compulsive Readers and the publisher for the gifted ARC for the purposes of an honest review. See what everyone else on the tour thought over the next few days too.
kirstyes 