Nevernight - Jay Kristoff

A many facetted novel, Nevernight flits between protagonist Mia's past and present with interspersed notes and tales from a darkly humorous narrator. Mia is a murderer, and though bloodthirsty and fearless, she is also an empathic person that I found it very easy to connect with. She and the other acolytes at the Red Church are competing for the chance to be a Blade of the Lady of Blessed Murder (a weird name choice for a deity but it fits!). The story follows Mia's initiation into the Red Church in the present and the story behind her need for revenge in the past.

The relationship between acolytes and teachers are cleverly done. Each is believable and intricate. Between each acolyte there is the pressure of the competition, as well as the realisation that any of them could die, but there is also the slow blossoming and much denied love Mia ignores for fellow acolyte Tric. Their histories are fully fleshed out and each of their personalities matches what they've been through. All of the acolytes are killers, but many are so much more than that.

A winding and enchanting story that kept me guessing till the very end. I look forward to the next in the series 'Godsgrave'.

The Infinite Loop - Pierrick Colinet & Elsa Charretier (Illustrator)

The infinite loop is a beautiful book. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the art is beautiful. I loved the concept of times and the way all the different versions of the main character, Teddy, were represented and the way that differences in their timelines had shaped them. The romance between her and Ano, the anomaly that Teddy is supposed to destroy, really hooked me. This graphic novel portrays so many diverse and interesting people in such a realistic way so that, instead of becoming a melting pot of odd characters, Pierrick & Elsa turn them into a fabulously detailed mosaic.

I really enjoyed this book and I thank the publishers for the reading copy they sent me.

Info-graphic: 5 Confessions of a Book Blogger

April 2017 Monthly Motif Challenge: The Girl of Ink and Stars - Kiran Millwood Hargrave

This story focuses on the daughter of a cartographer, who, like her father, is a versed navigator and map-maker. Unlike her father, Isabella doesn't just dream of sailing the world and creating beautiful maps, she also dreams of mapping her island, and the central region their governor has forbidden to explore. At the death of one of her classmates, Isabella realizes something must be done to catch the culprits, but the governor seems adamant not to search the forests. When the governor's own daughter goes missing in the forest, a search party ensues, and disguised as her twin brother Gabo, Isabella sets out to find her friend and to prevent the destruction of her island by a mythical Fire God. Easy to follow and very emotive, especially towards the end. This book won Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2017, as did one of my all time favorites Half Bad back in 2015. Another lovely read!

Why I March - Abrams Books

A really beautiful collection of the faces and messages from the men and women who embarked on the Women's March on Washington. The protest sparked movements in all 7 continents and a particular favourite of mine was the Antarctica sign 'Penguins march for peace'. I'm also a sucker for the free pencils and balloons the publishers sent me with them!

Snotgirl - Leslie Hung

"Green Hair Don't Care"

Lottie is a stuck up fashion blogger with allergies. The subject matter is very shallow but I liked the relationships between characters, especially 'cool-girl' and her ex-intern. The fact that the main character couldn't be bothered to learn her friends names wasn't great and it was confusing when she called characters 'norm-girl' and 'cute-girl' which I thought just reduced them to even more 2D versions of themselves and made me unable to connect with them. That being said, the art is beautiful. I love the style of the drawings and I love the character's green hair. Allergies is a much rarer flaw for a comic book character than it is in real life and I appreciate the creativity that went into designing her flaws and making her more than a mary-jane.

She is Not Invisible - Marcus Sedgwick

This is the story of a 16 year old girl, who abducts her younger brother Benjamin, to travel to New York on a mission to find their father. Her viewpoint is so complex. She's completely blind and has been since birth, so colour and sight mean nothing to her. She navigates an airport and a hunt around New York for her novelist father without ever being able to see. The way she relies on Benjamin to guide her is interesting and all the way through she's reminding herself to trust him more, to trust their father more, and to trust the love in her family, though she has her doubts more than once. Laureth is an incredibly human main character, as is her errant father, and I enjoyed this book almost as much as the last Marcus Sedgwick novel I read 'My Sword hand is Singing'. The only things I would say I didn't like as much are that I would have recommended it to slightly younger readers, say 9 - 12 year olds, based solely on the language and the parent-focused plot, than to teenagers, but still a really good read.