Top Ten Books I've Read so Far in 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I've Read so Far in 2015.

Blood of Dragons by Robin Hobb - My review - The final book in The Rain Wild Chronicles, and a fantastic end to the series! And reading it caught me up with all the books set in The Realm of the Elderlings, so I can read Fool's Assassin, the first book in the Fitz and the Fool series, the fifth series set in the Realm. Phew! But I am excited! Draaaagons! And Hobb's writing. I just love it!

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson - My review - This is such a wonderful transgender novel, and a fantastic debut you novel. Such a brilliant story, and highly recommended!


Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley - My review - This book is incredible, and wonderfully diverse! Set during integration in the 1950s, it looks at the issues of race and sexuality at a time when white ruled, and any sexuality other than straight was simply not discussed. An unbelievable book, so good! I implore you to read it!

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Nevin - My review - This book is absolutely beautiful. It's heartbreaking and I struggle every time to describe this book. It's so brilliant, I just can't find the words. About mental illness, and loosely based on things the author has experienced.


The Last Summer of Us by Maggie Harcourt - My review - This book! It's so good, I just can't tell you. It deals with grief and friendship, and it's so beautiful, and sad, and... I'm going to end up repeating myself. It's just awesome!

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman - My review - High fantasy with dragons! And mystery and just so much wow! I loved it!


Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz - My review - This is a fantastic intersectional novel! A bisexual woman of colour with an eating disorder, and a wonderful story of friendship, too! It's absolutely incredible!

The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough - My review - Another fantastic novel with a woman of colour, and LGBTQ elements. Set in the 1930s (I believe! Correct me if I'm wrong!), Love and Death are in competition, each choosing a different player, to see who will win. It's brilliant!


Every Last Word by Tammara Ireland Stone - My review - This book is so beautiful. On mental illness again, and just brilliant! Inspired me to pick up writing poetry, and it's a completely wonderful story.

The Accident Season by Mora Fowley-Doyle - My review - THIS BOOK! I reviewed it earlier today, and it's just brilliant! A mysterious paranormal-ish novel with suspense and creepiness! I loved it!

Have you read any of these? What have your favourites been?

Review: The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle (proof) - It's the accident season, the same time every year. Bones break, skin tears, bruises bloom.

The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear.

But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free? From Goodreads.

A number of months ago, when discussing upcoming LGBTQ YA,  Charlie Morris highly recommended The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle, so I requested a review copy. I resisted reading it until recently due to not being able to discuss it for months if I read it sooner, but I kind of wish I had! It's SO good!

Every October is the accident season for the Morris family. They will bump, they will slip, they will trip, they will fall, and there will be torn skin, blood, and broken bones. Every October. No-one knows why this happens, but Cara and Alice, and their ex-stepbrother, Sam, must put up with the extra layers, the the padding around the house and the removal of certain electronic devices like the kettle their mother/guardian insists on. Because the accident season is no joke; family members have died. October is a time when everyone is on edge. So when Cara discovers that someone, Elsie, a girl from school, is in every single one of her photos - an elbow, the back of her head, a shoe - Cara starts to worry. Why is Elsie in every photo? Is she following her? And why has she suddenly stopped coming to school? It looks like she's disappeared, but Cara is determined to find her and get her answers, with the help of Sam and her best friend Bea. Secrets abound, but during the accident season, it might be safer if secrets stay undiscovered.

The Accident Season is incredible! It's atmospheric, haunting, and completely mesmerising! There is so much intrigue to the mystery behind the accident season and what's going on with Elsie. I couldn't stop turning the pages, desperate to know what was happening, what was behind everything. It's not a horror story, but it has such a creepy vibe, an eerie feeling that something is watching Cara, Alice, Sam and their mother/Melanie, causing these accidents at the precise moment. With every scrape, cut, bruise, broken bone and near-miss, it felt like watching a Final Destination movie. You read in a constant state of trepidation, with a sense of foreboding, knowing something terrible could happen at any moment.

I loved how I was never completely sure what was real and what wasn't, continually guessing. There was the accident season, there was Elsie's disappearance, yet still turning up in the photos, the changeling siblings - Fae creatures that Cara dreams about, whose looks and lives have similarities to Cara, Alice, Sam and Bea. Then small things, like a shop that can't be found a second time, or a frozen river when it's so hot out. Plus there's Bea's interest in tarot and her mystical stories, and strange things turning up in a wooded clearing. It's absolutely gripping, and I have no idea what to class this book as! Contemporary fantasy? Magic realism? Paranormal? Something else altogether? Either way, it's brilliant!

The various romances in The Accident Season are subplots, which was nice. The focus was firmly on the weird and the strange, and the romance aspects happened alongside all that. There is an LGBTQ element to the story, but it's not explicitly stated. Sexuality isn't discussed*, what is discussed is a character's feelings for another character, but nothing more than that, nothing about identities. It's about the romance, not sexuality. Some might argue that this should be developed further, but I feel the romance in the book is treated just as romance, rather than straight romance or LGBTQ romance. It's all the same, and I think this is great.

This review hasn't done The Accident Season justice. I don't know if I can. It's delightfully suspenseful, deliciously ominous, and incredibly exciting! I absolutely adored The Accident Season, it's an unbelievably good debut novel! I just wish it was longer! There is no doubt I'll be reading whatever Fowley-Doyle writes next. She's going to be one to watch.

*Although sexuality isn't discussed, I know it's important to see yourself represented in the books you read, so, although it's not actually printed, from what I've read, I would say the characters would identify as bisexual. But I'm not the author, so I could be wrong here.

Thank you to Corgi Children's Books for the proof.



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Published: 2nd July 2015
Publisher: Corgi Children's Book
The Accident Season Website
Moïra Fowley-Doyle on Tumblr

Unpopular Opinions Book Tag

The super awesome Cait of Paper Fury has tagged me to take part in the Unpopular Opinions book tag - created by The Book Archer. This makes me happy! I hardly ever get tagged in these things, and who doesn't like having the odd moan? This sounds like fun!


1. A popular book or series you didn't like.


Matched series by Ally Condie. Couldn't get past the first book, really unbelievable characters. The same with both The Demon's Lexicon and The Lynburn Legacy by Sarah Rees Brennan. I found the characters so annoying. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Really don't understand why people like it. And don't get me started on the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast. Just not my bag.



2. A popular book/series everyone hates but you love.


So I find this question confusing. If everyone hates this book/series, how is it popular? I don't get that. So instead, just books I love that don't seem to get much love from anyone else.

Alex As Well by Alyssa Brugman; I really liked this LGBTQ YA story about an intersex character, but some feel there are some issues with how it seems that Alex may have a mental illness, as she thinks of there being a male self inside her as well as her female self, rather than her just being female. As there aren't many intersex books, and so little know much about intersex people, it's not a great image because intersex people don't have a mental illness as a rule - as in being intersex does not cause you to have a mental illness. But I really loved it. I didn't see this when I was reading it, and so only have fond memories of the book. I can't seem to think of anything else.

3. A love triangle where the protagonist ended up with the person you didn't want them to be with.


Someone please explain to me why Katniss chose Peeta? Because I really don't understand. Gale is better! It was fake with Peeta! And Peeta is boring. It's all about Gale!


4. Popular genre you hardly read.


I'm really not a fan of historical fiction or sci-fi. There are so many sci-fi books lately, They tend to have the most beautiful starry covers, but it's just not my bag. (For the record, although there are aliens, I don't really consider Jennifer L. Armetrout's Lux series to be sci-fi, but paranormal romance/urban fantasy.) And with Lydia Syson, Mary Hooper and Philippa Gregory, there's so much historical. Give me contemporary or a wonderful urban fantasy!


5. Popular beloved character you dislike.
I'm coming up with a blank here... Ok, going for a classic. Can I say Alice from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll? Really not my favourite story. Really don't like Alice. Oh my god, that girl.

6. Popular author you can't seem to get into.


Maggie Stiefvater. Francesca Lia Block. Meg Rosoff. James Dawson.Yes, I know. I know. But just the thought of picking up one of their books has me wanting to climb back into bed and not get up. I just have no interest in Maggie Stiefvater. I didn't like Shiver, I don't want to read anything else. And what the hell is up with the Dangerous Angels books by Francesca Lia Block, huh? Weetzie Bat is insane. Meg Rosoff bores me to tears, and How I Live Now made me really uncomfortable. And James Dawson... his writing and I simply do not gel. These authors? Nope. No, thank you.


7. A popular trope you're tired of reading.
Instalove. No. No more. I am DONE. I am firmly of the opinion that it does not exist, so please stop writing it. Stop making your stories unbelievable and eye-rolly, and having me wanting to throw them across the room, because their eyes met across (a very likely crowded) room, and that was it. NO! Where is the romantic development?! THERE IS NONE! How am I supposed to root for a couple when I don't feel it?! I'm not going to believe it if there's nothing their feelings are based on. JUST STOP!

Not that it bothers me that much.

8. A popular series you have no interest in reading.


The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot - too much girliness for me. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - no explanation required due to above. Splintered by A.G. Howard - Alice in Wonderland, ugh. But I don't know. Persuade me, and maybe.

9. A show/movie adaptation you liked better than the book.


The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. Ok, so I saw the movie before I read the book. BUT THE BOOK MISSES OUT HALF THE STORY! How are we supposed to root for them when we don't see the beginning of the romance. And it was just so boring. The movie is my favourite movie, so the book was such a let down. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It was good, but I was expecting more because of the buzz. But the movie, I loved. LOVED!

I'm not actually going to tag anyone,  because the people I would tag don't do tags, so that seems pointless. But if you want to do this, consider yourself tagged!

Any books I've mentioned you disagree with? Or agree? Because that would be nice. What would your answers be instead?

Review: Shadowplay by Laura Lam

Shadowplay by Laura Lam (eProof) - WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

The circus lies behind Micah Grey in dust and ashes.

He and the white clown, Drystan, take refuge with the once-great magician, Jasper Maske. When Maske agrees to teach them his trade, his embittered rival challenges them to a duel which could decide all of their fates.

People also hunt both Micah and the person he was before the circus–the runaway daughter of a noble family. And Micah discovers there is magic and power in the world, far beyond the card tricks and illusions he’s perfecting…

A tale of phantom wings, a clockwork hand, and the delicate unfurling of new love, Shadowplay continues Micah Grey’s extraordinary journey. From Goodreads.

It's taken me quite a while to read Shadowplay by Laura Lam. I really enjoyed the first book in the Micah Grey trilogy, Pantomime, but I've struggled to find the motivation to read the second book. And now I've read it, I wasn't missing out on too much. Considering how much I loved Pantomime, I'm quite disappointed in Shadowplay.

Micah and Drystan are on the run for the events that happened at the circus. They seek the help of Jasper Maske, a magician and an old friend of Drystan's. Maske can no longer perform magic to an audience due to losing a duel 15 years ago, and agrees to teach the two runaways magic to perform at the Kymri Theatre. Cyan, also an ex-circus performer, is hired as a magician's assistant, despite Drystan and Micah's misgivings and distrust. Discovering that Maske is teaching, his old rival, Taliesin, challenges him to a rematch duel; Maske's students against Taliesin's grandsons, the outcome of which could be disastrous. Meanwhile, the Phantom Damselfly turns out to be more than she seems, and as he tries to figure things out, Micah discovers so might he and Cyan.

Despite being gripped by Shadowplay, really eager to find out what happens, it left so much to be desired. I am a huge fan of magic. In a big way. If there's a magic programme on TV, I'm watching it. I've even been to see Paul Daniels perform live. I love magic! However, Shadowplay's magic was far from magical. I wasn't interested at all, and except for the fact that it gave Drystan and Micah somewhere to live at the theatre, and introduced them to Cyan who is quite important, I was struggling to understand why any of it mattered. The outcome of the duel was predictable, so other than being an environment where Micah gets to grow, in my opinion, there was no reason for all the magic. I was reading along hoping something interesting would happen soon far too often.

And when those interesting things do happen, I ended up with more questions than I had answers. I understand the Damselfly now, but there were no other distinct revelations in this book. We got hints, and clues, and questions, and I'm still none the wiser. I still know very little about Micah's nature, and - although for this story it's linked to what I'm interested in - I'm not talking about Micah being intersex. I'm talking about what happened with the Penglass, and why. What is so special about Micah? (With regards to my comment about Micah being intersex, it might seem dismissive to those who've yet to read Shadowplay, I'd like to just clarify, I'm not being dismissive of his being intersex, it's obviously a very important factor when it comes to how Micah views himself, to his identity. However, there's something that happens in this book in relation to him being intersex that I can't talk about that has me less interested in it than I am in other aspects of the story.) So the fact that we get possibilities about Micah - and Cyan - but nothing concrete, nothing definite, and that even these infuriating hints are so few and far between, I was so frustrated by the time I finished the book.

As for the romance between Drystand and Micah, what romance? I didn't feel it, I didn't believe it. Considering I started this book hoping something would happen between them, I'm so upset that I found it unbelievable, that it did nothing for me; I wasn't wowed, I wasn't hoping for more, I didn't particularly care about their relationship.

The brightest point in this book, other than the Damselfly, which I can't really discuss, is Cyan; she's a little funny and she's quite intriguing, and I found her to be a much more fascinating character than Micah in this book. Yet, saying that, I'm not sure I care about her enough. Too much of this book left me flat and unfeeling.

Considering how most of the story went, I was expecting a great deal from the ending, but it didn't deliver. Shadowplay is very much a middle book, with not much happening. Quite the let down. On the plus side, despite how disappointed I am, I am still intrigued by this world, even if I'm not so infatuated with the characters. So I will read Masquerade, the third book in the trilogy, sometime after it's release in 2016 from Tor - who bought the series after Strange Chemistry closed last year - but I won't be rushing out to get it. Don't get me wrong, I have read far worse books, but with Pantomime being so incredibly good, I can't believe how badly Shadowplay disappointed. It just didn't come close to the story I expected.

Thank you to Strange Chemistry via NetGalley for the eProof.




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Published: 7th January 2014
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Laura Lam's Website

My other reviews from the series:
Pantomime (Micah Grey/Dark Circus Book 1)

YA & NA Feminist Stories & Positive Female Role Models

This is not


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is is about favourite past topics for Top Ten Tuesday. Seeing as I haven't been taking part for very long, and don't have enough to talk about, I thought I would combine Top Ten Tuesday with something I want to look at. So it's not Top Ten Tuesday, but it is Tuesday, and I'm listing about ten or so (11) books. Call it what you will!
Anyway, I've recently been thinking about a few YA novels that tell feminist stories, and have been discussing and recommending them on Twitter. I thought it would be great to put together a list of those novels and others, and hopefully get more people picking them up.

Some of these books I read quite a number of years ago, some as far back as when I started blogging. So my reviews for those books won't be as long or as detailed as my current reviews, and are fairly amateurish, so I've also linked to Goodreads.


Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill - A novel that looks at body image, self-worth, and the worth of women in general in a dystopian patriachal society. I cannot stop raving about this book; if you haven't read it yet, you really need to.  My review

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger - This is a recent release, so I've not yet read it. About a dystopian future India where there are five boys to every girl, and girls are used as a commodity, their sole purpose to find suitable husbands and become caged wives.

Wither by Lauren Destefano - The first book in the Chemical Garden Trilogy, Wither is a dystpian novel where genetic engineering has caused the second generation to die exceptionally early, women at 20 and men at 25. Rhine is one of several girls kidnapped to become brides, so men can try and have children before they die. There's more to the trilogy, but this is what stands out for me. My review


The Testament of of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers - Set in the very near future, biological terrorism has caused women to die in their droves. This is a very powerful story that looks at having control of your own body, control of your life, and doing what you feel is right. My review

Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell - This book is about a romance between a disabled boy and an overweight girl. It's has themes of self-esteem and body image, and Riley, the protagonist, is such an incredibly awesome role model for self-confidence. She's very happy in her skin, is bold and confident, even in the face of the comments about her weight. She's wonderful. (Though lets ignore the fact that the girl on the cover doesn't represent Riley at all.)  My review

Screwed by Joanna Kenrick - It's an absolute travesty that this book is out of print, but one I implore you to try and find a second hand copy of. Screwed is an absolutely incredible book; 14-year-old Marsha has casual sex to feel good about herself. Or, rather, it doesn't matter what happens to her body because she lacks self-worth. It's a heartbreaking read, but a fantastic one. It's not a book that criticises casual sex, but one that discusses sex for the wrong reasons, sex as a form of self-harm. (If you do look up Screwed on Amazon, the description is incredibly sexist. Please don't let it put you off. This book is unbelievable!) My review


Good Girls by Laura Ruby - Audrey is spied on during a sexual encounter with Luke, a photo is taken, and is sent to everyone. Good Girls looks as shaming girls for having sex, the reputation that that can bring, and trying to keep your head up high throughout. A really brilliant book! My review

Anatomy of a Boyfriend and Anatomy of a Single Girl by Daria Snadowsky - These two books cover Dominique's relationship and all the firsts with her first boyfriend and her sexual experiences once she's single. They are very honest, sex positive stories, and show a girl exploring her sexuality without the crap girls seem to get in other stories. They're wonderful. The first book starts during high school and finishes during college, so the there's YA/NA crossover. My review of Anatomy of a Boyfriend and my review of Anatomy of a Girlfriend by Daria Snadowsky


Easy by Tammara Webber - An absolutely wonderful NA novel about Jacqueline moving past the attempted acquaintance rape. There's a beautiful romance too, but one where Lucas helps Jacqueline to empower herself again. Deeply moving! My review

Deeper by Robin York - Deeper is an NA novel similar to Good Girls, but this time deals with revenge porn/non-consenual pornography. Caroline's ex-boyfriend posts sexual photos of the two online after she dumps him. There is a typical NA romance with a lot of sex scenes, but there is equal focus on the seriousness of revenge porn, and it's affect on Caroline and her life, and her trying to move forward from it. A real eye-opener that talks about the law too, and it made me so angry. My review

So have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Are there any other novels that you would recommend as feminist stories or with positive female role models?

ETA: I've realised that with the exception of Only Ever Yours and 5 to 1 this list isn't very diverse.  Can you think of any with diverse characters?

Review: Girls Will Be Girls by Emer O'Toole

Girls Will Be Girls by Emer O'Toole - Emer O'Toole once caused a media sensation by growing her body hair and singing 'Get Your Pits Out For The Lads' on national TV. You might think she's crazy - but she has lessons for us all. Protesting against the 'makey-uppy-bulls**t' of gender conditioning, Emer takes us on a hilarious, honest and probing journey through her life - from cross-dressing and head shaving, to pube growing and full-body waxing - exploring the performance of femininity to which we are confined.

Funny, provocative and underpinned with rigorous academic intelligence, this book shows us why and how we should all begin gently to break out of gender stereotypes. Read this book, open up your mind and, hopefully, free your body. GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS is a must-read wake-up call for all young women (and men). From Goodreads.

For a while I've been thinking a lot about feminist issues and what my opinions are. I have also had a lot of feminist articles on my Twitter feed recently, but some of the issues that came up were things I'd never thought of, never considered. I realised I should probably educate myself, and tweeted asking for recommendations of feminist books to help me become a better feminist. Girls Will Be Girls by Emer O'Toole was recommended to me by YA author of Only Ever Yours, Louise O'Neill, and blogger Charlie Morris. And what a brilliant book!

O'Toole looks at gender as performance, albeit an unconscious one; how we dress and how we act within our gender roles, and how thinking consciously about the way we live in a patriarchal world and playing with our gender roles, we would not only make a statement and confront society's biases, but become happier in our selves. O'Toole walks us through her path from an anorexic teenager wanting to be thin as society tells us thin and pretty is best, to a gender-bending woman who has grown out her body hair and will wear heels one day, and have a shaved head the next, discussing psychology and theories on gender along the way.

Unfortunately, I don't have quite the academic brain I would like. Complex concepts I find difficult to get my head around. So it took me a while to get through Girls Will Be Girls as I tried to understand what I was reading, and then form an opinion It's frustrating to me that I'm not the kind of person who can understand these things first time round, and a few times I would morosely think about putting the book down and giving it up as a lost cause, but this is a topic that is important to me, and I want to have my mind broadened, so I stuck at it. Fortunately, O'Toole breaks down these concepts and theories pretty well, so rather than reading the book and thinking, "I don't have a clue what's being said here at all," I would read certain paragraphs a few times over, and it would click. Yes, I would have to do this more times than I can count, but I have found that people at large tend to understand such things better than I do, generally, so the point is I finished Girls Will Be Girls understanding what the book was saying about gender performativity, schema, and so on, which is a great feat for O'Toole! And if I can understand, then Girls Will Be Girls is pretty accessible.

And I've found that reading Girls Will Be Girls slowly, reading certain sections over, and educating myself has already been so worth it! O'Toole has got me thinking about the way I, and the women and men around me, act. I have had discussions about certain aspects with my family and friends, I've thought about how I view my body and how I dress it, about how I present myself to the world as a woman through my behaviour, even about how I work as a bookseller. Changes were being made before I even finished the book, both in mentally and in how I act. My perspective was shifted and I asked myself "Why?" about so many things I think about myself and my body, and women in general, getting to the root of those thoughts, and then attempting to change them. I've started not asking customers whether the child they want book recommendations for is male or female, no longer selecting books based on their gender. I've also thought about the heavily gendered books that are on many bookshops' shelves and what they can lead too; we want to encourage children to read, but girls are automatically going to the pink and sparkly fairy books, and boys to the superheroes, astronauts and car books.

These are the things that have been on my mind for several days now, and I love how I'm thinking and questioning everything so much! I genuinely think that so many women would start to feel much more confident in themselves and about their bodies if they read this book, if they see why they view their bodies as they do, and how they can change that. It's so obvious, and yet something that simply didn't occur to me. This book is so powerful! My review has come nowhere near close enough to doing Girls Will Be Girls justice, seriously. It's so interesting! I was nodding my head along to so much of it, and even the parts that I didn't agree with or didn't think would work for me were so fascinating to read about. I'm learning to be a better feminist, but O'Toole has kick-started my education brilliantly. I can't recommend Girls Will Be Girls enough!



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Published: 5th February 2015
Publisher: Orion
Emer O'Toole on Twitter