Review: ‘The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester’ by Maya MacGregor

“‘What is it you want, Sam Sylvester? …More than anything, what do you want?'
…‘I want to live,’ I say.” Rating: 3.8/5 paper planes A purple journal, hardback book and phone playing music leaning on a guitar. Around are mini mason jar lights and dried lavender, and the background fabric is dark with small metallic space-themed …

Review: ‘Under the Whispering Door’ by TJ Klune

"It's life, Wallace. Even when you're dead, it's still life. You exist. You're real. You're strong and brave, and I'm so happy to know you."[All quotes are from the ARC, which may differ to the final version.] Rating: 4.75/5 paper planes Genre: Speculative fiction; contemporary fantasy; paranormal; LGBTQ+Publication: 28 Oct 2021 (United Kingdom)Pages: 373 (hardcover) …

ARC Review: ‘Afterlove’ by Tanya Byrne

All that time she wasted being too careful or too polite or too scared, when, in the end, nothing is as scary as watching your whole life narrow to a single moment that's about to pass, whether you're ready for it to or not.[Quotes from ARC, subject to change in final edition] Rating: 3.8/5 paper …

Review: ‘Cemetery Boys’ by Aiden Thomas

Below, the waves crashed. The moonlight painted [Julian] in shades of blue. His edges blurred like watercolors spilling outside of their lines. Rating: 4.25/5 paper planes Genre: YA LGBTQ+ paranormal/urban fantasyPublication: 1 Sep 2020Pages: 352 (hardcover) Synopsis: Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family …

Review: ‘The Once and Future Witches’ by Alix E. Harrow

The wayward sisters, hand in hand,Burned and bound, our stolen crown,But what is lost, that can't be found? Rating: 4.5/5 paper planes Genre: Alternate-historical fantasy (19th century; witches; women's suffrage movement)Publication: 13 Oct 2020Pages: 528 (hardcover)Synopsis: In 1893, there's no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the …

Review, Top Quotes and 5 Reasons to read ‘Forget This Ever Happened’ by Cassandra Rose Clarke (TBR and Beyond Tours)

Rating: 4.5/5 paper planes Genre: YA Sci-Fi; MysteryPublication: 6 Oct 2020Pages: 336 (hardcover) Synopsis: Sometimes there’s a town called Indianola. And sometimes there isn’t. Summer, 1993. Claire has been dumped in rural Indianola, Texas, to spend her whole vacation taking care of mean, sickly Grammy. There’s nothing remarkable about Indianola, a dot on the Gulf …

Review: ‘The Raven King’ (‘The Raven Cycle’, #4) by Maggie Stiefvater

[Gansey] was a book, and he was holding his final pages, and he wanted to get to the end to find out how it went, and he didn’t want it to be over. Rating: 4/5 paper planes Genre: YA paranormal fantasy Publication: April 2016 Length: 11h 51m (audiobook); 439 pages (hardback) Synopsis: All her life, …

Review: ‘Blue Lily, Lily Blue’ (‘The Raven Cycle’, #3) by Maggie Stiefvater

“A coward’s heart is no prize, but the man of valour deserves his shining helmet.” Rating: 4/5 paper planes Genre: YA Fantasy (paranormal) Publication: October 2014 Pages: 391 (hardback); 10 hours (audiobook) Synopsis: Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which …

Review: ‘The Dream Thieves’ (‘The Raven Cycle’, #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

Ronan Lynch lived with every sort of secret. Rating: 4.5/5 paper planes Genre: YA paranormal fantasy Publication: 2013 Pages: 439 (hardcover) Synopsis (from Goodreads): Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into …

Review: ‘The Raven Boys’ (‘The Raven Cycle’, #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

"Arbores loqui latine," Ronan replied. "The trees speak Latin." Rating: 4.25/5 paper planes Genre: YA paranormal fantasy Publication: September 2012 Pages: 409 (hardback) Synopsis: It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive. Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees …