Lipsy Lost & Found Vintage Book Shop – Now Open!

One of my favourite things in the world is scouring second-hand bookshops, charity shops, book fayres, and car boot sales for beautiful old books. So I decided that the only way I can continue this hobby is to start selling some of them (so I can buy more – of course), SOB.

Just three years after opening an Etsy account (that’s how long it’s taken me to convince myself to part with these books – LOL), I’ve finally added some stock to my shelves. I’d love it if you’d come take a look – if not just to browse.

Click here to enter Vintage Words, Lost and Found.

I’ll be steadily adding more books (I have so many!) and will be posting shop-related posts on Saturdays when new stock makes the journey from cupboard to virtual shelf!

I don’t want people to think this is just a money-making scheme, I genuinely love the books I’m selling. And I like browsing, and finding hidden gems more than anything, so I thought you guys might like to see the books I’ve found over the years and continue to dig out – I’m not trying to convince you to buy them!

Here’s what my shop looks like at the moment – I’m really pleased I’ve managed to sell two books so far, in the run-up to Christmas.

Do you have an Etsy store? Link me up and I’ll come and visit!

Friday Feature: It’s all about the Bass Thrones & Thorns!

Do you ever get the feeling you’ve heard that title before, seen that cover a million times, or get déjá vu when reading a synopsis? It seems like we see a different book trend every month lately, whether it’s a hot new sub-genre, a cover style or even a title trend.

I thought it would be fun to explore book trends in more detail, and for this first post on the subject I’m going to look at two words that have been continuously cropping up in book titles for what seems like forever, and they just keep on coming.

It’s impossible to know were it all really began, but for me these two trends began with George R.R Martin’s A Game of Thrones, and Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Thorns. Since then it’s been pretty hard to look at any physical or virtual bookshelf in the fantasy section without being bombarded with both thrones and thorns.

Let’s take a look…

Thrones

 

Overview: Tales of claims to the throne and everything that comes with it – war, murder, romance –  have always been popular in both Historical Fiction and Fantasy. But A Game of Thrones definitely seems to have been the game changer here. The ever popular series and accompanying TV show seems to have set in motion a whole new wave of old-world-new-world fantasy.

• The Diamond Throne by David Eddings – 1989: Slightly ahead of its time, perhaps?
• A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1) by George R.R. Martin – 1996

• The Throne of Bones  by Brian McNaughton – 1997: I had to include this one just for the hilarious title. It’s not quite on trend with the rest as this is an anthology of Horror shorts.
  

  “Imagine earthy Tolkienesque characters in a setting full of cemeteries, graverobbers, necromancers, corpse-eaters–even a huge labyrinthine necropolis”.

 

• The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan – 2008: Now this is more like it. The synopsis sounds like a million other throne books that emerged between 2008 and now – but y’ know…still good.

• The Lost Throne by Chris Kuzneski – 2008: Slight reprieve here as we head more into The Da Vinci Code territory (by the sounds of it). There isn’t even mention of a throne in the synopsis. Band wagon much!

• The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan – 2011: Oooh Riordan has caught on.

• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass – 2012: And we have lift off. As much as I love this title and the series in general, I did always wonder why she called it that. The throne in question plays a very little part in the book which makes me wonder if the choice of title was marketing genius over anything else.

• Assassin’s Gambit (Hearts & Thrones #1) by Amy Raby – 2013: You could be forgiven for thinking this is the exact same plot of ToG from the synopsis. A beautiful assassin, a powerful emperor…that damned déjá vu again!

• The Shadow Throne by Django Wexler/ Jennifer A. Nielsen – 2014: Two in one year with the same title! This throne malarkey is big business!

Thorns

 

Overview: I always associate the use of thorns in literature with the Grimm’s fairy tale Little Briar Rose, and many of these books appear to have been inspired by that too. These are stories of broken princes, powerful sorcerers and abandoned castles. We’ve seen a steady resurgence of fairy-tale retellings in the past twenty years, but only recently have so many focused on the thorns element.

• The Briar King (Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone) by Brian Keyes – 2002

• The Thorn Queen by Richelle Mead – 2008: Richelle Mead is always pretty ahead of her game. She brought us Vampire Academy before the whole Twilight thing went mental, and here she’s at it again.

• Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence – 2011: This was when I first noticed the emerging trend of thorns and it seems to have paved the way for the anti-hero too.

• The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson – 2011: This book seemed to kick off the thorn-love in YA land.

• Thorn by Intisar Khanani – 2012

• The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge – 2011: Not to be confused with the iron throne in Game of Thrones…are you getting confused yet?

• Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman – 2013: This is another one that has been popular in the YA world of fantasy.

• The Castle Behind the Thorns by Meril Haskel – 2014

• Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay – 2014: Woah. Double whammy or what. This book is actually described as:

  ‘Game of Thrones meets the Grimm’s fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty’s daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.’

  Why have one trend when you can have two? Mind blown. I also really want to read it now!

• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – 2015: She’s at it again. This Maas chick knows exactly what she’s doing.

Final Thoughts: So there we have it. This is just a snap-shot of the books out there that seem to be following these trends. If this were a battle though, I’d say that the thrones trend may be coming to an end, and the thorns are taking over.

It’s also interesting how much fire, ice and bones are mentioned in both trends. The two themes seem pretty incestuous actually – nearly all of the thorn books also mention thrones, however the same can not be said the other way around. But whether you’re in to Iron Thrones or Iron Thorns, you’re not going to run out of reading material any time soon!

What do you think about these two trends…do you have a favourite??

This Week in Books 28.01.2015

Happy Wednesday everyone. Here’s what I’ve been up to in bookland this week!

Now: Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse ~ Chris Riddell

These books are so aesthetically pleasing, pictures don’t do it justice, but trust me, they would look amazing on any book shelf. And I’m pleased to say that I’m enjoying the story too!

Then: Frozen Charlotte ~ Alex Bell

So, so, good! If you like to be creeped out, I highly recommend this one. I reviewed it earlier in the week.

Next: ???

Either Me & Mr J by Rachel McIntyre, or Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, which are both advanced review copies I need to start ASAP.

New on the Shelf

(Linking up with Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews)

I didn’t make any requests, buy, or borrow any books this week as I’ve got way too many to be getting on with. Well done me!

New on the Wishlist

Taunting the Dead ~ Mel Sherratt
I found this book on the lovely Cleo’s blog, who is a bit obsessed with murder and mayhem – in the best possible way! It stuck out for me as it’s set near my hometown.

Nine out of ten murders are committed by someone the victim knows. So when Steph Ryder has her head bashed in within earshot of her family and friends, D.S. Allie Shenton begins her investigation close to home.

Soon the lies, backtracking, and secrets multiply as each of the suspects tries to cover up their actions on that fateful night. Before long, Allie homes in on Steph’s ambitious and powerful husband, Terry. Convinced he’s hiding something, she interviews him again and again—only to find that she is falling, despite herself, for his smooth charms.

As the trail grows hotter, along with Allie’s feelings, the web of deceit pulls tighter and more bodies begin to pile up. Allie must race against time to uncover the shocking truth before she becomes the killer’s next victim.

The Only Ones ~ Aaron Starmer
It was the cover that drew me to this book which I stumbled upon on Time Travel Times Two, and it sounds really unique so I had to add to my wishlist.

Like the other children who have journeyed to the village of Xibalba, Martin Maple faces an awful truth. He was forgotten. When everyone else in the world disappeared one afternoon, these children were the only ones left behind. There’s Darla, who drives a monster truck; Felix, who used string and wood to rebuild the internet; Lane, who crafts elaborate contraptions for live entertainment; and nearly forty others, each equally brilliant and peculiar.

Inspired by the prophecies of a mysterious boy who talks to animals, Martin believes he can reunite them all with their loved ones. But believing and knowing are two different things, as he soon discovers with the push of a button, the flip of a switch, the turn of a dial…

A whimsical apocalyptic fable that carries readers to a future world without adults, a journey filled with dark humor that every reader will want to take.

I’m Waiting on…

(Linking up with Breaking the Spine)

The Death House ~ Sarah Pinborough
I wasn’t overly impressed with Poison – the first book I read by Sarah (although the book itself was so pretty), but I follow her on Twitter and really like her take on things, so I’m hoping this new YA horror book from her will be more to my liking. Loving the freaky cover.

Toby’s life was perfectly normal… until it was unravelled by something as simple as a blood test.

Taken from his family, Toby now lives in the Death House: an out-of-time existence far from the modern world, where he, and the others who live there, are studied by Matron and her team of nurses. They’re looking for any sign of sickness. Any sign of their wards changing. Any sign that it’s time to take them to the sanatorium.

No one returns from the sanatorium.

Withdrawn from his house-mates and living in his memories of the past, Toby spends his days fighting his fear. But then a new arrival in the house shatters the fragile peace, and everything changes.

Because everybody dies. It’s how you choose to live that counts.

So, that’s my week in books, now how about yours?

If you still do a similar WWW post (or just want to join in, leave your link/answers in the comments, OR why not tweet using #ThisWeekInBooks, and I’ll come and visit!

Top Ten Tuesday: YA Books for YABC

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish (click the link to visit them) who pick a different topic each week.

The topic for this week is: Ten Books I’d Love to Read With My Book Club/If I Had A Book Club (or you could pick a specific kind of book club — like if you had a YA book club or an adult book club or a science fiction book club etc.)

My friend Di and I have an unofficial YA book club (YABC) where we meet up, drink wine, exchange books and rant/swoon over them. It’s pretty awesome. Therefore, I am choosing the books that have been the most successful YABC topics in the past.

Oh the rants we’ve had…

(Links go to related posts)

1. The Hunger Games: Well, durrr. There was a period of time where myself and Di were banned from talking about THG in public because we just couldn’t stop, and it always ended in the same very heated (but y’know, friendly..) argument.

Mainly because it turns out that Di likes NICE BOYS like Peeta and is therefore WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING. I mean really, Peeta over Gale…?? SERIOUSLY. Other topics included why I hated the first movie (because I’m right) and why Di didn’t (because she’s wrong).

2. Vampire Academy: Oh, we are not even close to be being done with VA YABCs! But the series so far (we are up to book 3 I believe), has already provided us with so much good ranting material.

There’s been the obvious Dimitri-in-my-pants rants and girl crushing all over Rose Hathaway and her complete awesomeness. And then there’s the hilarity that ensued when we realised we couldn’t pronounce any of the vampire species so anyone listening in to our convo in the bar at Waterloo station probably thought we were having a stroke.

And lastly, there’s the fact that it’s impossible to discuss VA without comparing it to our favourite topic ever – Buffy!! So good!

3. Twilight: Possibly the first ever YABC-type rant in the history of Di and Lipsy book rants.

Topics mainly revolved around how ridiculous it is but quickly descends into how much we want to have sex with control freak Cullen, and ultimately how much we COULDN’T STOP READING. There has also been a lot of discussion over the TERRIBLE fashion choices Meyer made – if there’s ever a BEIGE POLO-NECK shortage just head to Forks, yeah!

Oh and in case you were wondering, I’m the lion and Di’s the lamb. LOLZ.

4. The Selection Series: The big debate here is clearly Team Maxon Vs Team Aspen but for once I think me and Di actually agreed (we did, right?). Team Maxon to the max…see what I did there. There was also a lot of talk about how this series helped with our post-Hunger Games blues, and how much we want GILES to play the king in the TV Series. What ever happened to that?

5. Graceling: Oh so much swooning went on at the Graceling edition of YABC. We swooned over the pretty much perfect Prince Po, and at how AWESOME Katsa is. We just love her. KATSA & PO 4EVA.

6. The Chaos Walking Trilogy: This wasn’t so much a YABC meet-up as it was a constant texting/tweeting/ranting/raving/crying over how amazing, heartbreaking, and just plain HORRIBLE this series is. I think at one point I declared how much I hate Di for giving it to me. IT HURT MY IMPENETRABLE HEART. We cried over poor Todd. And how cute him and Viola are. And let’s not even mention the dog. I just can’t.

7. Uglies: After giving this to Di to read and hearing her thoughts on it I can’t even think about the book without bursting into laughter. I liked it. Sure, the protagonist was annoying, but I thought it was a really brave book that covered some important teenage issues. Di did not. Di hated it with a firey passion which naturally led to a particularly loud edition of YABC.

8. Divergent: There were only really a few topics we managed to focus on when discussing Divergent. First…back to The Hunger Games. Second, HOT MAKE OUT SCENES ON TRAINS. We did manage to briefly discuss which faction we’d be before quickly returning to swoon over Four and his tattoos. Sigh.

9. The Mortal Instruments: Let’s face it. There’s only really one topic in discussion where TMI is concerned – whether Jace and Clary will EVER get it on (I only got up to book 3). And not forgetting the whole possible incest thing. INCEST IS BEST. Ahem. I have a brother – It is NOT. Shudder.

10. The Lunar Chronicles: This is only so far down the list because for once we pretty much agree on everything about these books. Mainly, that they are beyond awesome. We’ve swooned over Prince Kai, Captain Thorne and even Wolf – or maybe that was just me? We love Cinder, and Scarlet and Cress and want to poke Levana’s eyes out. And now we’re just waiting for more.

One more thing: I feel the need to include Narnia here too. I don’t think we’ve even had an actual Narnia YABC but it’s never really far from our thoughts to be honest. Whether we’re discussing if it’s OK to fancy High King Peter, or laughing at Ben Barnes’ accent in the Prince Caspian movie….it’s always a Narnian life for us. For Narnia!

Get Ready to Shudder: Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell

Title: Frozen Charlotte
Author: Alex Bell
Series: N/A
Edition: Digital ARC, 368 pages
Publication Details: January 5th 2015 by Stripes Publishing
Genre(s): Horror; YA
Disclosure? Yep! I received a copy from the author/publisher in exchange for an HONEST review.

Goodreads // Purchase

We’re waiting for you to come and play….Dunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. Converted into a family home, the teachers and students are long gone. But they left something behind…Sophie arrives at the old schoolhouse to spend the summer with her cousins. Brooding Cameron with his scarred hand, strange Lilias with a fear of bones and Piper, who seems just a bit too good to be true. And then there’s her other cousin. The girl with a room full of antique dolls. The girl that shouldn’t be there. The girl that died.

Review

This book actually gave me nightmares (well, it gave me one – it was pretty awesome).

For starters, creepy-ass miniture porcelain dolls with their hands outstretched like they died reaching for you. Dolls that are everywhere, even in the walls. Dolls that whisper. Dolls with needles… But more about them later…I’m getting ahead of myself.

For the purpose of context, I’m a huge horror fan, especially as far as films are concerned, and I’m constantly disappointed that I never find any of them scary any more. I must be desensitised or something. To a certain extent, it’s the same for books, but I do find it easier to get creeped out by a good horror book than a film…and oh my, this book creeped me the hell out, so major props for that!

And it wasn’t just the creep-factor that was good about this book, I literally could not put it down. I was sneakily reading it at work and stayed up wayyy past my bed time to finish it off!

Frozen Charlotte is centred around Sophie and the events which follow her best friend Jay’s sudden death (it’s right at the beginning so hardly a spoiler). Jay downloaded a Ouiji Board app on his phone and he and Sophie play around with it, mocking it, like you do. But when Sophie calls on the only person she knows who has passed away – her cousin Rebecca – things go a bit weird to say the least.

To cut a long (not that long to be fair) story short, the app tells Jay he will die that very night…and of course, he actually does. Cue devastated Sophie trying to make sense of it all through the grief. And what better place to go than to an old converted schoolhouse on the blustering and foggy Isle of Skye.

It is her Uncle James’ home, and the whole family are clearly still suffering the loss of Rebecca. Everything about the place is wrong. From a parrot called Dark Tom who literally screams bloody murder all night long and young Lilias who has a phobia of bones (even her own), who once tried to cut out her collar bone, to Cameron, the musical protégé who got burned during the death of his sister and has never been the same again, and Piper who is trying to hold the whole thing together but is strangely obsessed with the Frozen Charlotte dolls.

I really wish I’d read this book for Horror October instead of Doll Bones. This was exactly the thing I was looking for. It was so good, and so creepy, at one point I had to put it down because I was shuddering so much internally. I couldn’t keep away for long though, I HAD to find out what the hell was going on!

The only tiny grumble I had with it, was that I couldn’t decide how old the characters were. It seemed inconsistent a lot of the time. Sometimes they seemed older than they should be, and then I’d get thrown by talk of first kisses and such, and visa versa. In the same way I couldn’t decide if Frozen Charlotte was aimed at the YA market or just had young characters. But you know what, who cares! It was great!

Frozen Charlotte is available in paperback from Waterstones now.

Challenges: 2014 Results & 2015 Goals

Last year was my first full year of blogging, and like most book bloggers, I set myself some challenges. So, how did I do?

Hmm…not that great, but not toooooo bad either.

Here are the goals I set myself and how I did:

The Goodreads Challenge/ Yearly Goal

Goal: 70 books
Outcome: 71 – Success!

You can see the full list here.
 

The TBR Pile Reading Challenge

The idea of this challenge was to read some of the older books on my shelves that I never got round to – so I made a rule that only books I’d had for over five months counted. That was a mistake.
Goal: 11-20 books
Outcome: 7

Rereads Challenge

I wanted to make time to reread some of my favourite books. These are the ones I chose:

1. Northern Lights (His Dark Materials #1) by Phillip Pullman
2. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
3. Peter Pan by J.M Barrie
4. Sunshine by Robin Mckinley
5. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible by James Frey
6. The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffennegger
7. The Gates by John Connolly
8. – 10. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne CollinsGoal:

Outcome:2 (The Shame!)

Series

I wanted to finish the following series:

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
Status 01/2014: Book 3/5
Status 01/2015: Book 3/5

The Akasha Series by Terra Harmony
Status 01/2014: Book 1/4
Status 01/2015: Book 1/4

The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness
Status 01/2014: Book 1/3
Status 01/2015: COMPLETE!

So, a mixed bag! It could have been worse I guess.

2015 Challenge

I’m going for the minimal approach this year.

1. Goodreads Challenge: Upped to 75

2015 Reading Challenge

Lipsy has
read 3 books toward her goal of 75 books.

hide

3 of 75 (4%)

view books

 
2. Reread Challenge: I still want to reread all of those on the list so I’m going to continue plucking away at that one.

3. TBR Challenge: This time, I’m going to make a list of all the books I have sitting on my shelves (which I will publish at some point) and just see how many I can get through. Whatever I don’t pick up, I WILL take to a charity shop at the end of the year.

Good Luck to us all!

This Week In Books 21/01/2015 (RIP WWW Wednesdays)

I only realised last week that WWW Wednesdays is no more. Sad face.

I really like having a weekly reading round-up and Wednesday always worked for me as I used to get most of my reading done over the weekend. Things have changed a little now with different work patterns and such, but I think I’m going to stick to Wednesdays regardless.

This also means that I can tweak the format for my own. Mwahahahahaha…

So here’s what Wednesdays will look like on Lipsyy Lost & Found from now on (I’m basically cramming 3 memes into one because I don’t like doing too many!)

This Week in Books

Now: Frozen Charlotte ~ Alex Bell

OMG this has been such a pleasant surprise, if being totally creeped out can be pleasant (it can in my world). I’ll be finished with this today and I’m itching to review it already!

Then: The Darkest Part of the Forest ~ Holly Black

Loved!!! My rather rambling review went up yesterday.

Next: ???

On the ARC front, I need to start Red Queen, but I also got so many awesome books for Christmas & my Birthday (post coming soon!) that I can’t wait to start.

New on the Shelf

Titles Approved from Netgalley:

 
The Alex Crow ~ Andrew Smith
Once again blending multiple story strands that transcend time and place, Grasshopper Jungle author Andrew Smith tells the story of 15-year-old Ariel, a refugee from the Middle East who is the sole survivor of an attack on his small village. Now living with an adoptive family in Sunday, West Virginia, Ariel’s story of his summer at a boys’ camp for tech detox is juxtaposed against those of a schizophrenic bomber and the diaries of a failed arctic expedition from the late nineteenth century. Oh, and there’s also a depressed bionic reincarnated crow. Released March 5th 2015 by Electric Monkey
 

Me & Mr J ~ Rachel McIntyre
Fifteen-year-old Lara finds her soulmate. There’s just one problem – he’s her teacher.

Lara’s life is far from perfect, but being an upbeat kind of person she saves her venting for her diary. It’s the only place she can let out her true feelings about the family dramas and hideous bullying she has to face every day.

And then a shining light comes out of the darkness – the new young and MALE teacher, Mr Jagger. The one person who takes Lara seriously and notices her potential. The one person who is kind to her. The one person who she falls madly and hopelessly in love with. The one person who cannot love her back … can he? Released February 5th 2015 by Electric Monkey

Borrowed Books:

Thanks Dora!

New on the Wishlist

I saw this post on Flavorwire about books that will make you more interesting – not that I necessarily agree that reading certain books can make you more interesting – but I definitely wanted to add a few of them to my wishlist regardless.

The one that completely stood out though, was this:

White is for Witching – Helen Oyeyemi

As a child, Miranda Silver developed pica, a rare eating disorder that causes its victims to consume nonedible substances. The death of her mother when Miranda is sixteen exacerbates her condition; nothing, however, satisfies a strange hunger passed down through the women in her family. And then there’s the family house in Dover, England, converted to a bed-and-breakfast by Miranda’s father. Dover has long been known for its hostility toward outsiders. But the Silver House manifests a more conscious malice toward strangers, dispatching those visitors it despises. Enraged by the constant stream of foreign staff and guests, the house finally unleashes its most destructive power.

With distinct originality and grace, and an extraordinary gift for making the fantastic believable, Helen Oyeyemi spins the politics of family and nation into a riveting and unforgettable mystery.

I’m Waiting on…

 
(Linking up with Breaking the Spine)

Shadow Scale (Seraphina #2) – Rachel Hartman

I can’t wait to get my hands on this! I think I’ll have to reread Seraphina first though. (Oh what a chore, not!)

The kingdom of Goredd: a world where humans and dragons share life with an uneasy balance, and those few who are both human and dragon must hide the truth. Seraphina is one of these, part girl, part dragon, who is reluctantly drawn into the politics of her world. When war breaks out between the dragons and humans, she must travel the lands to find those like herself—for she has an inexplicable connection to all of them, and together they will be able to fight the dragons in powerful, magical ways.

As Seraphina gathers this motley crew, she is pursued by humans who want to stop her. But the most terrifying is another half dragon, who can creep into people’s minds and take them over. Until now, Seraphina has kept her mind safe from intruders, but that also means she’s held back her own gift. It is time to make a choice: Cling to the safety of her old life, or embrace a powerful new destiny? Released March 10th 2015 by Random House Children’s Books

So, that’s my week in books, now how about yours?

If you still do a similar WWW post (solidarity!) or want to join in, leave your link/answers in the comments, OR why not tweet using #ThisWeekInBooks, and I’ll come and visit!

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Title: The Darkest Part of the Forest
Author: Holly Black
Series: N/A
Edition: Digital ARC, 336 pages
Publication Details: January 13th 2015 by Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre(s): YA; Fantasy
Disclosure? Yep! I received a copy from the author/publisher in exchange for an HONEST review.

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

Review

YES! This is what I’ve been waiting for by Holly Black.

Since absolutely loving The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, I knew I needed to read more by her. I had planned on reading her back catalogue but you know how it is…so little time. Therefore, I was pretty thrilled when I got approved for an advanced copy of this one. And rightly so!

The Darkest Part of the Forest is a fairy book with bite. It reads like a deliciously dark classic fairy tale, but it’s thoroughly modern too.

In the small town of Fairfold, humans go about their days like any average community, but there’s just one difference, faeries also exist. On the whole, faeries have come to be accepted and their magic is seen as harmless. However, many people in Fairfold continue to abide by certain rules and superstitions in order to make them immune to their magic, making you raise an eyebrow as to whether they are as harmless as everyone thinks they are.

The town has an interesting history to say the least. And at the centre of it all, is the horned boy who sleeps in the glass coffin in the middle of the forest. He’s been there for as long as anyone remembers and he never wakes up, or ages.

Protagonists Hazel and Ben have fawned over the horned boy since they were little, naming him their Prince, they both dream of kissing him and they long for him to wake up.

But then he does…. and Hazel and Ben’s lives soon start to unravel. Can they protect themselves and save their Prince, or will their secrets come between them and destroy everything ?

To show your regard, you give each other other lovely bouquets of lies.”

I’m finding it so hard to review this book, which is always a sign that I loved it! There are just so many things I liked about it, it’s hard to put into words.

For starters, I found the writing style beautiful. It’s one of those books where I just wanted to highlight passage after passage. It was honest and heartbreaking, and magical all at once.

Hazel never cried. She was forged from iron, she never broke. No one was tougher than his sister. The worst part was how quietly she wept, as if she’d taught herself how, as if she was so used to doing it that it had just become the way she cried.”

Hazel and Ben really stand out as great protagonists for me. I loved how close they were but that they had so many secrets from each other which twisted and tainted their lives. I loved that they were both in love with the horned boy, and that there was never any hoohaah about Ben being a young gay character – which is exactly how it should be – but you still rarely get gay characters in stories without their sexuality being a big issue, or the driving force of the plot.

I was blown away by how Holly Black built this world of fae but made it so modern. It felt like such a perfect juxtaposition, something I haven’t seen pulled off so well before. For example, she uses age-old folklore such as the residents of Fairfold filling their pockets with iron and oats to protect them from faery magic and in the same breath, the horned boy attracts tourists wanting to take selfies with him.

I loved that Hazel was a Knight. I loved that the kids of Fairfold seemed so normal despite living amongst faeries. I mean, they get wasted  and dance around (and on top) of the the horned boy’s coffin… so much to love.

I can’t even get started on the romances. Seriously. I’ll just stop now.

The only reason I’ve given it 4 unicorns instead of 5 is because it took me quite a few chapters to get into it. But that’s the only tiny grumble I have.

Available now in hardback!

Mustache Questions: About moi!

I was tagged by Punk’s House of Books (many thanks!). I stole the image from previous posts.

I wrote this over the Christmas holidays btw.

FOUR NAMES THAT PEOPLE CALL ME (OTHER THAN MY REAL NAME)

1. Lipsy

2. Lozza

3. Barry (really! LOL)

4. Lippo

FOUR JOBS THAT I HAVE HAD

1. Bar wench & waitress

2. Ice cream shop manager

3. Media Researcher (PR)

4. Christmas Co-ordinator

FOUR MOVIES I HAVE WATCHED MORE THAN ONCE

So many! The one’s I’ve probably watched the most:

1. Interview with a Vampire

2. Labyrinth

3. The Rocky Horror Picture Show

4. Lost Boys

FOUR BOOKS I’D RECOMMEND

Just four? To whom? What genre? Ahhh. OK I’ll try…

1. A Million Little Pieces – James Frey

2. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

3. Mystery Man – Bateman

4. Cinder – Marissa Meyer

FOUR PLACES I HAVE LIVED

1. Crewe, Cheshire, UK

2. Putney, London, UK

3. Southfields, London, UK

4. Kingston-Upon-Thames, Surrey, UK

FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN

1. Bruges, Brussels

2. Reykjavik, Iceland

3. Rome, Italy

4. Athens, Greece

FOUR PLACES I’D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW

1. Iceland – I want to live there, and it’s been snowing there on and off all month! WANT!

2. Scotland. How have I never been?

3. A castle, any castle. Always.

4. I’m at my parents house right now which is lovely, but I also miss my flat and my own bed!

FOUR THINGS I DON’T EAT

1. Rice (It’s Maggots, Michael)

2. Mushrooms. Slimy slugs. Ugh!

3. Green trees or white trees (cauliflower and broccoli). I love vegetables but I just don’t like the taste of these at all.

4. Tinned ravioli. Ygh. We used to have this as kids and I always called them pockets of poo. You’re welcome!

FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS

1. Bacon

2. Pork steak with Stilton sauce. Mmmm pig and cheeeeese.

3. Green Olives

4. Goat’s cheese

FOUR TV SHOWS THAT I’VE WATCHED…

…recently…

1. Buffy The Vampire Slayer (always)

2. The Fall

3. Hannibal

4. Californication

FOUR THINGS THAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS YEAR (THE NEXT 12 MONTHS)

1. Frozen Sing-a-long for my birthday

2. Hopefully getting a new, amazing job. Or failing that, just a job.

3. Maybe going on holiday in summer if #2 happens.

4. The unknown! Here’s to new adventures in 2015!

FOUR THINGS I AM ALWAYS SAYING

1. Yessssssssssss!

2. Amazing!

3. LOL – I started off saying LOL to take the piss out of people who say LOL. Now I say LOL, LOL!

4. Save me, Barry!

FOUR PEOPLE I TAG

Only if you want to, no pressure!!!

1. Chrissi @ Chrissi Reads.

2. Dianne @ Dianne Tanner

3. Lynn @ Lynn’s Book Blog

4. Emma @ Emma Carroll Author

2015 Goals/Resolutions

I know it’s a bit late, but I had two weeks off at the start of the year and missed all of the end of year/start of year stuff so expect them in dribs and drabs over the next week or so!

I’m not one to make resolutions really, but I do have some goals this year:

1. Find a good job (sounds simple right?).
2. Be more organised, especially with blogging. I’m want to post less at the beginning of the year to build up some content so I’m not always behind or get bogged down when life gets busy.
3. Request less ARCs and read more of the books on my real-life shelves.
4. Promote my etsy shop!
5. Go to the dentist/doctors more – take care of myself better (I already went to the dentist – woo me)!
6. Save money (after I’ve found a job of course).
7. Change the look of my blog.
8. Work on more original content – less memes!

I think that about covers it!