Exciting News for two of our young reviewers!

It's been a bit quiet here as most of our young reviewers are now in exam years. However I do have some exciting news.

A big congratulations to Zobdy and MJ, two of our young reviewers,  who have had poems published recently.

MJ's poem, 'School', Zobdy's poem, 'Drifting Away', and Yvie's poem, 'My Love', are all recently published in the Young Writers anthology called 'Express Yourself Through Poetry - Heart of England'.

MJ's poem, 'Solomon's Story' is due to be published very soon in the Young Writers collection called 'Express Yourself - Leicestershire and Northamptonshire'.

www.youngwriters.co.uk.


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Tyme's End by B.R Collins

I don't really know what i think about Tyme's end by B.R. Collins. In some aspects it's really REALLY good but in some it's just creepy, insane and a little disturbing.

I didn't really think it was very realistic either and it was kind of hard to follow. I started off, after reading the blurb, thinking it was going to be some sort of dramatic love story set in an old house (the old house thing automatically made me assume it was set quite a while back) to be honest that would have been the perfect book for me. However, the two characters who are supposed to fancy each other are 11 years apart. The girl is 16 and the guy is 27!!! I mean that's just wrong on so many levels, I mean in the real world, surely that would be considered creepy, or is it just me thinking that?! I also got a little confused by the swapping of the eras in it. Maybe it's one of those books that calls for being read several times? I thought the back story of Oliver was good and in actual fact i think that the story line could also be good if Oliver and Bibi didn't fancy each other . . . that's just weird. . .

I think the book is a good read if you are willing to look past some things that don't seem to fit, but i don't really think that the blurb does the book any justice.

haunting violet by Alyxandra Harvey

Haunting violet was a very good book. I'll say right now it gets a 10/10 from me.

Violet’s mother is a scam artist. she pretends that she can communicate with ghosts and she forces Violet to take part.
With elaborate tricks, Violet and her mother make a living off their innocent victims. Violet detests taking part in these deceptions however she has no choice.

Things start to get problematic though when Violet actually does start to see a ghost. The ghost of a young girl who was killed and who is looking for someone to find the truth and avenge her death. But can Violet solve the mystery before something dreadful happens again?

The book is set in Victorian times and so Violet has been told that she must marry into aristocracy to keep the family's good name. However there are 2 men for Violet to choose from. The rich, handsome Xavier or poor but true friend,Colin.

Blood Feud & Out for blood By Alyxandra Harvey

Blood Feud and Out for Blood are the 2nd and 3rd books in the Drake Chronicles. In Blood feud, The Drakes’ mother has just been crowned queen of the vampires and so politics are a mess. The story mainly follows Logan Drake. Logan's love for Isabeau, a French vampire with a dark and troubled past, often finds him in some sort of trouble.
In out for blood, it follows Hunter, who lives up to her name. She attends a vampire hunting academy. Hunter is prepared for everything and anything that comes her way. Everything, that is until she goes and falls in love with one of the drake brothers............

I thought that both of these books were amazing and made great sequel to My Love Lies Bleeding, which is the first in the series.
I'd recommend to it to anyone who is into the vampire world. I think it’s mainly aimed for girls aged 13+

Tempest Rising - Tracy Deebs

Mermaids are up there with fairies and dragons as creatures that i can't seem to keep away from. When I started to read this book I thought i would love it and it may even make my top 10 favourite books, but I'm sad to say that didn't happen.

There was a lot of stuff I liked in the book but mainly I didn't think it was the best. It's not a bad book, no not at all, but i don't really think it was anything to rave over.
Also, when I'm reading a book with romance in, I like certain things to happen between the two characters that the romance is between however, the romance was not to my liking at all considering the circumstances.

I think the writing style slowed down the story a lot and i found that half way through it started to get rather tedious.

There are good things though, so far my review has sounded rather negative but that's not because it was a bad book, only that it was merely average.

I did like the idea of the story a lot. I think that mermaid mythology is touched on quite often these days but i felt that Tempest rising had a modern take on the myths. My saying that as praise is rare as I'm more of a traditionalist and I'm not a big fan of modern takes on things however i felt that it worked in Tempest Rising and it made for a nice read. If i was to rate the book out of 10, i think I'd give in 6.5 - or 7 if I'm stretching it.