No Place Like Oz

No Place Like Oz – Danielle Paige 

The land of Oz is a marvelous place full of surprises. How different is it from Kansas where Dorothy is destined to spend the rest of her life when she returns home after her exciting adventures! Back on the farm, life is dull and the only friends she has were her farm animals. Even more frustrating that nobody believes her stories – in contrary, even mocks her because of her “vivid imagination”.

 On her sixteenth birthday one catastrophe occurs after another until she somehow receives a mysterious present: wonderful, glittering shoes which she uses to return to Oz. This time with her family! During her trip, the sweet heroine becomes bitter. Nothing turns out how she wants it to be. Glinda is gone and needs urgent help, a strange princess Ozma is ruling Oz, her friends are shattered all over Oz.

 This sequel of the series “Dorothy Must Die” by Danielle Paige follows our sweet heroine and the development of her dark side. It gives you the answer to the question on why she needs to die.

 The writing style of the rather short novel connects to the writing style of Frank Baum and is indeed very enjoyable. I would give it a respectable 8/10.

– @penguinfightsback

We All Looked Up – Tommy Wallach

Personally, I’m not a big fan of cheesy, cliché teen fiction. So while I absolutely loved the cover of this book, I was not expecting it to be anything particularly special. Therefore, I was really pleasantly surprised when this book turned out to be so much more than another teenage romance novel. Yes, there is a lot of ‘highschool politics’. Yes, there is a typically dramatic love triangle. However, these are not the focus of the story and are completely forgotten about as you lose yourself in the deeper underlying themes of religion and social standing and start to question what really matters if you only have two months left to live. 

Tommy Wallach picks apart many of the social stereotypes that we are faced with daily. The characters are honest, raw and relatable. You may not like them at first, but that’s irrelevant. Wallach doesn’t want you to like them, or sympathise with them. He wants to show you the affect of ‘the end of the world’ on each of their very different lives. This is done beautifully through individual chapters focusing on one of the five protagonists. You watch their old lives become lost, as their new lives entwine and they start to see the world in a way they never did before.

They said it would be here in two months. That gave us two months to leave our labels behind. Two months to become something bigger than what we’d been, something that would last even after the end.

Two months to really live.​

– @onthewaytorecovering

Endless Night

Endless Night by Agatha Christie was a very interesting read indeed. Although the story was rather slow–paced, the plot twists were insane.
A man and a woman meeting in front of a property. The beginning of a presumed love story – were it not for the threatening gypsy and the dangerous appearing relatives. The author makes you sympathize with the couple for an almost too long part of the novel.

After the murder, you can make as many assumptions as you want concerning the culprit. In the end, you will be surprised on how all the strings were pulled.

The novel was easy to read. It was my first book by Agatha Christie and I´m looking forward to reading all her other books as well. The only thing that bugged me was the pretty sloppy turning point. Nevertheless, I believe that Endless Night deserves 7/10. 

– @penguinfightsback

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

What a stunning book. What I find particularly wonderful is that the author (Ransom Riggs) had acquired all the beautiful antique pictures in the book from photograph collectors and flea markets, forming the story based upon the pictures. I actually found myself scouting Google for garage sales nearby whilst in the car on my way back from holiday- having finished it- making my plans to conduct an expedition to the local antique store down my road so that I could construct realities for people in old photos myself!Florida born Jacob Portman was drip fed his Grandfather’s unexplainable and extraordinary tales of another world , populated by both peculiar persons and terrifying monsters.

As the story unfolds, the stories become more of a reality for Jacob, and so vividly described that it becomes so tangible and real that I want to be a peculiar child myself!

Incredibly imaginative, beautiful (and certainly peculiar!), this book is one of three. (Although I ordered the other two to complete the trilogy, as well as ‘Tales of the Peculiar’, and ‘Talking Through Pictures’ halfway through this book). I recommend it to anyone, I was literally unable to put it down! 10/10, I really cannot put my love for this book in words! If you read it you will see.

– @recoverywolf

The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night Time

The curious case of the dog in the night time is a great read. A book that’s hard to put down because it’s extremely gripping with its plot. It’s not only a great book but shows a good insight into autism and how it effects not only the person but also their family. Would highly recommend this book. 5/5 starts. 
-@tiny_bites_back

Ballet Shoes

TITLE: Ballet Shoes

AUTHOR: Noel Streatfeild

GENRE: Childrens Fiction

RATING: 5 Stars

SYNOPSIS:

Pauline, was rescued from a shipwreck as a baby. She longs to be an actress.

Petrova, is a Russian orphan. She is happiest when playing with cars and engines.

Posy was handed over with just a pair of ballet shoes to her name. If she could, she would dance all day!

But one thing they DO have in common is, that with money running out at home and Great Uncle Matthew missing, the sisters want to stay together. Whatever it takes.

As they prepare for a dazzling life on stage, the dreams and fears of the fossil girls are about to come true…

As a child, this was one of my favourite books. As a woman, now in my mid-30s, it remains a firm favourite. An easy read, it tells the story of three adopted babies growing up in a London home. They take to the theatre in an attempt to raise enough money to survive whilst their benefactor travels the world, leaving them in the care of Garnie (Sylvia).

Whilst the period in which this is set is now quite old fashioned, it adds to the charm of the novel. The characters of the three girls are all individual and well rounded, and whether you are a lover of ballet (as I am) or not, you can still find something in this story. It has a depth to it which I can appreciate as an adult, although it is classified as a book for children. The relationships between the “sisters” are believable – they squabble, they laugh together, they change as they move into adolescence.

The realism of the story and the characters ensures that this remains a classic piece of literature for children.

• @cupcakes.n.daydreams

 

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland…

Title: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

Author: Catherynne M. Valente

A fairytale with a difference, this series of books weaves the most beautiful and kick-ass world! September is an ordinary American girl, whose father has gone to war (we are never told which war, as it’s just a small detail in the story) and one day hears a tap at her window. She takes a risk (as she’s a risk-taking kinda gal) and ends up in Fairyland having to battle shadows, evil princesses and dictators while making friends with a creature who’s half Wyvern and half library, and a boy who belongs to the sea. 

I LOVE confident characters who can be role models for little girls and September is clearly one of those! She is the protagonist of most of the series, but one – The Boy Who Lost Fairyland – focusses on a baby troll who ends up on Earth, mirroring September’s journey. 

Even if you don’t read this book for you, you should buy it for every one of your sisters, nieces, goddaughters… Anyone who needs a role model that can speak and battle for herself, and still come out winning. 

– @theroadtodoughnuts

Paddington Bear

Title: Paddington Bear

Author: Michael Bond

So, all the books on here so far have been pretty heavy going, so I’m going to head back to my specialisation and talk about some of my favourite kids’ books, for a bit more easy reading!

Paddington Bear is something I only discovered recently and I cannot believe it took me so long! The stories are very sweet and quintessentially British – which is something I expected – but I didn’t expect the emotions that would come with it! The character is so very unaware of the change in his surroundings, but rather than try to make sense of the world, he keeps barrelling around and hoping that the world will adapt to him – something I think we’re all guilty of sometimes!

The stories are also incredibly funny and I have laughed out loud at some of PB’s adventures and his manners in which he gets through them. The first 3 books in the series are essentially short story collections which is PERFECT if you do not have a long attention span or if you don’t have time to just sit and read for hours. 

I know it’s a “children’s book”, but I and many others believe that this isn’t even a real category. Anyone can enjoy these books, of any age, and best of all they’re often found in charity shops so if you want to give it a go without committing to your youth then they’re not very expensive!

As they say; don’t knock it til you’ve tried it!

– @theroadtodoughnuts

The Song of Achilles

Title: The Song of Achilles

Author: Madeline Miller

Set in Ancient Greece, this LGBT novel is a clever, modern twist on Homer’s Iliad, focussing predominantly on the characters rather than the story that we all know. 

The story concentrates on one young man, Patroclus, and his inability to access his father’s kingdom or to make a name for himself. He bids for the hand of Helen of Troy but is laughed away and eventually joins the sanctuary of King Peleus, where he meets the eponymous Achilles. 

Part love story, part action, this novel has something for everyone. While you can see the influences of the Iliad, it is more of a backdrop to the story of the two men – characters such as Odysseus are mentioned but they never become part of the main cast, so you don’t need to be a scholar in Ancient Greek to understand the plot! 

I don’t feel like there are enough novels out there like this; the characters fit into the LGBT category and yet it is not their whole personality as it is in most novels. The characters are well-fleshed out and 3 dimensional, and their queerness is just a small factor in this. The story concentrates on their friendship and love for one another and their adventures that they have side by side, while expanding on a world that Homer created 2800 years ago. 

If you like classic literature, LGBT novels, modern retellings or a good-old action story, then I think this could be the novel for you! 

– @theroadtodoughnuts

Alias Grace

Title: Alias Grace

Author: Margaret Atwood

Alias Grace is one of the greatest novels I think I have EVER read. Set in 19th-century Canada, Atwood fictionalises the real life murders of Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery – killed by their two servants in 1843. 

The book centres on the character of Grace Marks – a woman convicted for the murders and given the monika “The Murderess” by the press – and her life leading up to, during, and the years following her sentencing. Her “guilty” verdict seems to be convincing, but as she tells her story to a young doctor, all may not be as it seems. 

The story opens on the eponymous Grace in prison for her crime and is therefore told using flashbacks; present tense; first-, second- and third-person. Using letters, poetry, newspaper reports, interviews and the usual prose. This seems complicated but Atwood’s genius style of writing means that they all fit seamlessly with one another, and you end up flying through the book. 

This is one of the few books which I had to put down before it ended because I wanted to savour the results that came from it; I finished it 3 weeks ago and yet still find myself thinking about it daily. It’s thick, and maybe a bit intimidating, but so so worth the time. (Also it’s coming out as a Netflix series in August so you only have a few weeks to get started ;))

– @theroadtodoughnuts