Browsing Tag

vendetta

5 Female Authors I Adore

Posted on 29 October, 2015

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

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5 Essential Books to Catch Up On This Summer

Posted on 6 July, 2015

In my opinion, summer is the best time to get lots of reading done. I look forward to summer each year, when I can catch up on all the reading I’ve missed out on since the summer before. Here are a few books I think are essential to catch up on this year:

My Second Life by Faye Bird

What if you were born again, into another life, another body, but you had to live with the fact that you did something terrible in your previous life? All of the details, however, are just outside of your grasp… This is the premise of My Second Life, a thrilling, mysterious novel that I wish more people would read because I adored it. It kept me on my toes as I read on and on, not being able to put it down. A must read!

Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Easton

To put it lightly, Boy’s Don’t Knit is the perfect book to make you cry with laughter. It’s about a boy who gets in trouble with the police after an unfortunate accident involving an old lady and a stolen bottle from Waitrose. As part of his community service, Ben has to take up a hobby and he chooses knitting. The book follows Ben as he learns that knitting isn’t just something for grannies, and tries to keep his new hobby a secret from his friends. I LOVED it!

Blog Tour

Vendetta by Catherine Doyle – An Infographic

Posted on 27 January, 2015

At the end of 2014, I read Vendetta and I loved it. I thought, as part of the blog tour running at the moment, that I’d create this review infographic because it really is amazing. Read it, read it, read it!

You can read my full review here.

Vendetta by Catherine Doyle out now in paperback (£7.99, Chicken House). Find out more about the author at http://catherine-doyle.tumblr.com and http://www.catherinedoylebooks.com.

UKYA Uncategorized

#readukya – January Titles

Posted on 30 December, 2014

I have been planning and scheming away for months, and I’m so pleased that my plan can now come into fruition!

#readukya is going to be an online, interactive book club, bringing together the best of UK and Irish authors, bloggers, booktubers, librarians and booksellers. Starting in January, two books will be picked each month and a liveshow and Twitter chat at the end of the month will discuss the two chosen books.

January’s theme: Love and War

The first book chosen is Vendetta by Catherine Doyle, a spell-binding romance similar to that of Romeo and Juliet. To put it simply, it’s Romeo and Juliet meets the Mafia.

When it comes to revenge, love is a dangerous complication.With a fierce rivalry raging between two warring families, falling in love is the deadliest thing Sophie could do. An epic debut set outside modern-day Chicago.

When five brothers move into the abandoned mansion in her neighbourhood, Sophie Gracewell’s life changes forever. Irresistibly drawn to bad boy Nicoli, Sophie finds herself falling into a criminal underworld governed by powerful families. As the boys’ dark secrets begin to come to light, Sophie is confronted with stinging truths about her own family, too. She must choose between two warring dynasties – the one she was born into, and the one she is falling in love with. When she does, blood will spill and hearts will break.

Book Two: Night School by C.J. Daugherty

Night School is the phenomenal first instalment in a major globally recognised series by C.J. Daugherty. This is a chance to catch up on the series if you haven’t read them yet, or re-read an old favourite, especially as the last book in the series is released in the summer.

Allie Sheridan’s world is falling apart. Her brother’s run away from home. Her parents ignore her. And she’s just been arrested.
Again.
This time her parents have had enough. They cut her off from her friends and send her away to boarding school, far from her London friends.
But at Cimmeria Academy, Allie is soon caught up in the strange activities of a secret group of elite students.
When she’s attacked late one night the incident sets off a chain of increasingly violent events. As the school begins to seem like a very dangerous place, she finds out that nothing at Cimmeria is what it seems to be.
And that she is not who she thought she was.

If you’re interested in helping to host the liveshow at the end of January, you can contact me @LucyTheReader on Twitter or at contemporaryqueen@outlook.com via email to discuss. This would be a huge help, and lots of fun too!

Will you be joining in?

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My Favourite Books of 2014

Posted on 27 December, 2014

Whilst I definitely didn’t read as much as I usually do in 2014, there were many amazing books that I did read. This year has felt like one massive reading slump, but each of the books featured on this list captured my heart and I’ve been recommending them non-stop since reading them.

Vendetta by Catherine Doyle

Out on 1st January, this is the most recent edition to my list. Vendetta is Catherine Doyle’s debut novel and I’ve read many books by well-established authors that I didn’t love half as much as I loved Vendetta! It’s thrilling and adventurous – I couldn’t put it down!

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

I love all of Rainbow Rowell’s books so I couldn’t miss Landline out of my list! I read it at a very special time and all of Rainbow Rowell’s books are like a big, warm hug. It’s hard not to fall in love with every word!

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

I am OBSESSED with this series! I’ve started to watch the TV series, but I much prefer the books. I’ve now read the second and third books, which I loved even more. Incredible!

Have a Little Faith by Candy Harper

Candy Harper never fails to make me laugh. I read the two Faith books earlier in the year and I love them! They’re the funniest books I’ve read in a long time and so easy to read. I’d recommend them to anyone!

Starring Kitty by Keris Stainton

Wow! This book amazed me when I read it – it has LGBT, feminism and diverse characters. I fell head over heels in love with it!

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

I don’t think I’ve spoken about The Virgin Suicides on the blog yet, but I have a few times on my YouTube channel. Whilst it’s primarily targeted at adults, I think this book has a huge crossover appeal and I’d love to see more teenagers reading it. It’s a haunting read that will stay with you for a long time after you’ve finished it.

Winger by Andrew Smith

Winger is a truly original novel that portrays teenage life and experience perfectly. It even has cartoon images that I adored when reading it! READ IT, READ IT, READ IT.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Although this book is hated by many, I was one of the people who loved it. Even though it was written over 60 years ago, it’s still very current a bookish rite of passage! Definitely worth reading at least once during your lifetime.

Trouble by Non Pratt

Trouble is a brilliant book all about teenage pregnancy! Non isn’t afraid to tackle subjects that many authors shy away from and I can’t wait to read more from her in 2015!

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

And now for my favourite book of the year… Solitaire! My review of Solitaire is the easiest review I’ve ever written and I will not rest until I get everyone to read it. It’s phenomenal and I haven’t seen a bad review for it in the five or so months since its release.

Book Review

REVIEW: Vendetta by Catherine Doyle

Posted on 2 December, 2014

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You know that feeling when you read an amazing book and you have to re-evaluate everything you once thought about life? Vendetta was that book for me. It completely destroyed me.

Vendetta is the version of Romeo and Juliet you wish Shakespeare had written. In one sentence, it’s Shakespeare meets the Mafia – dramatic, spellbinding and phenomenal.

I’ve been wanting to read Doyle’s debut novel for what feels like forever, so I had to start it immediately as soon as a copy dropped through my letterbox (after loudly jumping around, screaming, “I HAVE CAT’S BOOK! CAT HAS WRITTEN A BOOK!”). No matter how much you know about Vendetta beforehand, nothing will prepare you for what’s actually inside. It’s a book you can speed through in a day because it’s impossible to put down. Bit of an issue when you’re trying to be productive!

The protagonist, Sophie, is such a realistic voice who I instantly warmed to. It was easy to feel as if you were in her position, which made the narrative so much more awesome. I’m not usually a massive fan of first person, but it worked so well.

Vendetta has a romance that is unlike anything I’ve seen in another novel. Each of the five boys in the book are incredibly swoony and so well written. They’re basically a huge selling point just on their own.

It’s not often that I feel like crying because of the awesomeness of a book. In fact, I can’t remember a time it’s happened before, but Catherine Doyle changed all of that for me. I became so emotionally attached to the story that I couldn’t bear to finish reading it. I cannot wait to read the next book!

READ VENDETTA AS SOON AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN! I guarantee you’ll love it!