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soulmates

Recommendations

5 Female Authors I Adore

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In the wider book industry, female authors often get overlooked so it is super important to support them as much as possible. I thought I would compile a list of some of my favourite female authors today. They all write books that feature either feminism or female characters who stand out as being realistic and passionate.

Louise O’Neill – Only Ever Yours and Asking For It

Louise is one of the biggest YA talents out there at the moment and with the recent announcement that she’s been signed to write two adult books for Quercus, I’m really excited to read her future books. Only Ever Yours has earned Louise comparisons to the likes of Margaret Atwood, which is no mean feat, and it is set in a dystopian future where girls are genetically engineered to be perfect. They are then raised to please the men of this fictional world, which leads you to question our own society and just how far away the world in Only Ever Yours is from ours.

Asking For it deals with the subject of rape and consent. It’s extremely harrowing and a must-read for people of all ages. It draws attention to what it’s like to be a woman in the digital age and, although I didn’t love every second of reading it, I came away knowing just how important the book is.

Holly Bourne – Soulmates, The Manifesto On How to Be Interesting, Am I Normal Yet?

I read Soulmates a few years ago and fell in love with it. Each page gripped me and I couldn’t put it down. Since then, I’ve become a huge fan of Holly’s and she is one of the loveliest people you could wish to meet. It makes me very happy to see her books doing so well!

The book that I could talk all day about is Am I Normal Yet?. The first in a new series, it tells the story of a girl recovering from OCD and anxiety, and her journey as she tries to fit in and be “normal”. The best part of it for me was the feminist group that Evie and her two friends set up. It allows younger readers to test the waters of feminism without it being forced on them and it’s a book that I’ll be recommending to everyone. Continue Reading

Lucy Recommends... Uncategorized

Lucy Recommends… [4] – Big Books

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Lucy Recommends is a feature where I use all of my persuasive techniques to make you buy the best books around, whether it be by genre, author or series.

This time I’m going to talk about BIG BOOKS. I’m not exactly one to read lots and lots of big books, but there are a few I’ve really enjoyed. I consider a big book to be over 400 pages…

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Diving straight into the deep end, it’s no surprise that I’m featuring A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin on a list of ‘big books.’ It took me over a month to read but because of its size it meant that it was very easy to absorb everything about the world of Westeros. You can read my full review here.

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Undone by Cat Clarke is incredible. Telling the story of a girl out to get revenge for the death of her best friend, it’s enthralling and unputdownable. It was the first of Cat’s books I read, and has me craving to read more. Even more than a year after reading, it’s still fresh in my mind.

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Winger is one of my favourite books of the year so far. When I first looked at it, I was intimidated by its size but it hooked me right away and the inclusion of comic strip-style graphics means that the time reading goes very quickly. Winger is centered around a boy called Ryan Dean who goes to an exclusive boarding school in the US. It’s about the trials and tribulations of being a teenager, told in a realistic manner. Very highly recommended!

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Soulmates is a breath-taking romance novel, taking the term ‘soulmates’ to an extreme. What happens if you finally find that person you’re meant to be with forever, but it has horrifying effects? This is what happens when Poppy meets Noah. Once a cynic, meeting Noah changes more than just her belief in love… I loved Soulmates when I read it and it’s a book I could re-read over and over again. I know so many people who have loved it, and Holly definitely isn’t without her fans! A phenomenal debut novel.

Do you like reading ‘big’ books? Which ones are your favourites?

Book Haul

Letterbox Love (22)

Letterbox LoveLetterbox Love is a UK based feature where book bloggers showcase the books that they received that week, be they e-books, paperbacks, hardbacks or any other format. It is hosted by Lynsey from Narratively Speaking.

I have a two week long haul to share with you all this week. I’ve been a very naughty girl!

Won:

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This week it has been Book Week in Scotland and Hive.co.uk were running a competition on Twitter where you could put someone forward to win a paperback and I won this!  Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys is one of Stacey’s favourite books of the year and nominated me to win a copy, and win I did! I am so excited to read it because we were only talking about it the other week and I know lots of people who loved it, too. Thank you, Hive.co.uk and Stacey!

To Review:

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These two were sent to me for review by Hot Key Books, one of my favourite publishers ever. The first book I got was Leopold Blue by Rosie Rowell which is a historical fiction novel set in South Africa during the 1990’s. I had to study a poem during the time last year in class, so I’m really looking forward to delving into this one. The second novel is Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Eaton which sounds hilarious and I can’t wait to start it. Thank you, Hot Key!

Bought:

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I went into my local Waterstones branch last week and bought The Maze Runner by James Dashner because the film comes out next year and I want to read it beforehand. There’s a lot of hype surrounding it so I’m a little nervous but I have high hopes I’ll enjoy it. The other book I got was When It Happens by Susane Colasanti , which I’ve already read. It was a good book, but it didn’t have the ‘wow factor’ I wanted and expected from it.

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I found Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen in a charity shop and picked it up because I’m going to be trying to read more classics next year. I’m really looking forward to reading it.

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I stopped by Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath a few weeks ago and couldn’t resist going a bit wild and buying these three lovelies. I’ve been looking for a copy of How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff for ages but I wasn’t too keen on the movie tie-in cover and so I was very pleased with myself when I spotted the gorgeous Penguin classic edition. I’m very excited to start it. I also got Vivan Versus the Apocalypse by Katie Coyle which I’ve already started and am enjoying greatly. It’s very different to many books on the market currently and I’m going to be recommending it a lot. The final book I got was Heap House by Edward Carey which is also illustrated by him. They have a display of the books in the shop and I couldn’t say no to buying it (not that I wanted to).

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I also visited Waterstones in Bath which has a brilliant YA section and I got Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider which I loved. It was such an amazing book and I should be posting a review sometime in the next few weeks. The next book was Soulmates by Holly Bourne which I’ve been wanting to read for ages now and I can’t wait to start it. I’ve been going into my local Waterstones and it hasn’t been in there so I was glad to finally find it. The last book I got was The Isobel Journal by Isobel Harrop which was the only book I went in to get. I read it in one afternoon and fell completely in love. Review coming soon!

Swag:

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I won the keyring and badges from the Hot Key Tumblr page and it came with the postcard too. I was so excited when I opened the package because of how much I loved The Isobel Journal and I’m going to be wearing them everywhere now. Thank you, Hot Key!

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What did you get this week? Let me know below! 

Blog Tour UKYA Uncategorized

UKYA BLOG TOUR: Holly Bourne – Why I wanted Soulmates to be British

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I’m so pleased to be welcoming Holly Bourne, author of Soulmates, to the blog today! The post below is a real masterpiece and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I first read it.

I’m half American and, sometimes, I really do feel that way- like I’m culturally split right down the middle.On my USA side, I tend to tell everyone, genuinely, to ‘have a nice day‘ before I hang up the phone, and I really really enjoy eating artificial cheese. Yet, on my British side, I think sarcasm is the best thing ever invented, I self-medicate with cups of tea, and I’m so obsessed with the weather I wrote a whole love story based around it.

Generally I’m happy with my hybrid identity. However, there are times when you have to pick a side and, when I sat down to write my debut novel, I wanted Soulmates to be British…why?

Because I wanted readers to be able to relate to the every-day life…

I love so many American YA novels and yet I can’t always get lost in them. Why? Because I grew up in England so I never took SATs, I never had a ‘Prom’, there were no cheerleaders or jocks or Taco Bells. It’s these little everyday moments in stories that make them believable – and when you read a book, you bring all your own experiences to the page and story. So, with Soulmates, I wanted these to match. I wanted British teenagers (and adult readers) to recognise things like A Level coursework, Cafe Nero, rugby players, cups of tea, beer gardens and the word ‘wanker’. That way, they could more easily imagine falling crazy in love and get lost in the story.

Because British people take the piss out of each other…

We bond by being horrid, and I bloody love that about being British. Since I got my book deal, my friends have sort-of congratulated me – but more used it as ample opportunity to take the piss. One introduced me at a party, saying, “This is my friend Holly, she’s a published author and she’s written a kids version of 50 Shades Of Grey.” I had to spend the rest of the evening swearing that wasn’t true! Or my boyfriend saying: “I’ve come up with a better idea than your book. ‘Trollmates – two trolls fall in love online whilst sending death threats to celebrities.'”

I honestly don’t think you get this I-take-the-piss-because-I-love-you anywhere else other than the UK.  And it was really important to me it was in Soulmates. In fact, it turned out writing all the piss-taking scenes, where Poppy and Noah are ripping it out of each other, was actually more fun than writing all their smoochy stuff.

Because Brits really know how to tell a love story…

Soulmates is a self-referential romance book. It’s a homage to the genre, as well as a twist on romantic generic conventions. And, undeniably, the greatest love stories are British. Romeo and Juliet – written by a British bloke. Jane Eyre – British chick. Pride &Prejudice – British chick. Wuthering Heights – British. Even, One Day – British!

I think it’s our repressed stiff-upper-lip tendencies that lend themselves so well to romance. There is nothing more riveting than a love that takes a long time to be. The stolen glances, the repressed feelings, the missed opportunities, the unspoken declarations of affection… MY HEART IS THUMPING JUST THINKING ABOUT IT.

Then there’s the fact that the English language is so well-equipped to deal with the sumptuous topic of love. Italian may be beautiful to speak, German may have more logic to it, but English has such an abundance of words! Verbs, nouns, adjectives – our language is so crammed with options that making sense of love and romance has such variety .

Because I’d be in really great company…

This is such an exciting time for YA books by British authors. From the no-topic-is-barred Cat Clarke, the quick and hilarious quips of Holly Smale, to the uncomprehendingly-brilliant Patrick Ness – there is a literary feast of writing talent on the go. And I feel very blessed to be a part of that.

Thank you, Holly! 

Find Holly: Website | Twitter