Reputation by Lex Croucher

Abandoned by her parents, middle-class Georgiana Ellers has moved to a new town to live with her dreary aunt and uncle. At a particularly dull party, she meets the enigmatic Frances Campbell, a wealthy member of the in-crowd who lives a life Georgiana couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams.

Lonely and vulnerable, Georgiana falls in with Frances and her unfathomably rich, deeply improper friends. Georgiana is introduced to a new world: drunken debauchery, mysterious young men with strangely arresting hands, and the upper echelons of Regency society.

But the price of entry to high society might just be higher than Georgiana is willing to pay...

Marketed as Gossip Girl meets Jane Austen, Lex Croucher’s debut novel certainly is that and more! Highly entertaining, it tells of Georgiana, who has recently moved in with her aunt and uncle, and she is bored. Until Frances appears, like dramatic whirlwind, and pulls Georgiana into her fun-filled frenzy of unchaperoned parties, indecent conversations and cocktails of drinks and drugs.

Georgiana was a perfectly flawed protagonist; she was sweet-natured but also desperate to be liked and to have adventure, and this made her naïve and cruel to others, just to impress Frances. I spent a lot of the book trying to shake Georgiana out of her self-destructive behaviour! Pulled into Frances’s friendship group with the lure of drama and booze-soaked fun, Georgiana nearly loses herself in the thick of all the excitement and attention.

Croucher does an excellent job of blending the timeless troubles of young adults finding themselves and testing boundaries, with the Georgian backdrop of societal expectations. Nothing feels forced or modernised, or indeed modern conversation pushed into historical settings, it all felt very realistic and almost classical. The issues of friendship and family are timeless, and the lengths Georgiana goes to, to change and almost lose herself, in order to impress people, as well as peeling back the shiny façade of popularity, is something we recognise from today.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen

Lady Victoria Aston has everything she could want: an older sister happily wed, the future of her family estate secure, and ample opportunity to while her time away in the fields around her home.

But now Vicky must marry—or find herself and her family destitute. Armed only with the wisdom she has gained from her beloved novels by Jane Austen, she enters society’s treacherous season.

Sadly, Miss Austen has little to say about Vicky’s exact circumstances: whether the roguish Mr. Carmichael is indeed a scoundrel, if her former best friend, Tom Sherborne, is out for her dowry or for her heart, or even how to fend off the attentions of the foppish Mr. Silby, he of the unfortunate fashion sensibility.

Most unfortunately of all, Vicky’s books are silent on the topic of the mysterious accidents cropping up around her…ones that could prevent her from surviving until her wedding day. 

Set in one of my absolute favourite periods of history, Georgian England: the finery, the manners, the drama! I adored this, it was a great mix of romance and mystery. 

Vicky was a pretty cool heroine – considering the limitations of the period, all she wanted to do was help run her family’s estate. She was headstrong and romantic and had learned all her life lessons so far from Jane Austen novels, which isn’t necessarily helpful when life proves to be far more difficult than Miss Austen had suggested. Between her older sister returning home from an abusive husband and a mysterious person trying to take over her family’s estate, Vicky suddenly has more on her plate than looking after the flock of sheep. Now, she must navigate the season and find an eligible gentleman to help her save the house and grounds, but that is surprisingly difficult. Apparently, even two hundred years ago, bachelors were a terrifying mix of trustworthy and absolute monsters! 

The characterisation and the setting was just incredible, and I completely fell into Vicky’s world of dances, trying to find love and surprising fisticuffs. It was really easy to read and I immensely enjoyed the tension and the stakes of Vicky needing to find a husband. Plus, it showed a side of the era that we rarely see, one with fighting for divorce and the intricacies of running an estate, especially as a woman. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it for fans of historical romance, duels at dawn and love in surprising places.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Things A Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nichols

Through rallies and marches, in polite drawing rooms and freezing prison cells and the poverty-stricken slums of the East End, three courageous young women join the fight for the vote.

Evelyn is seventeen, and though she is rich and clever, she may never be allowed to follow her older brother to university. Enraged that she is expected to marry her childhood sweetheart rather than be educated, she joins the Suffragettes, and vows to pay the ultimate price for women's freedom.

May is fifteen, and already sworn to the cause, though she and her fellow Suffragists refuse violence. When she meets Nell, a girl who's grown up in hardship, she sees a kindred spirit. Together and in love, the two girls start to dream of a world where all kinds of women have their place.

But the fight for freedom will challenge Evelyn, May and Nell more than they ever could believe. As war looms, just how much are they willing to sacrifice?

Evelyn, May and Nell come from very different backgrounds and have different ideals, but all are impressed with the Suffrage movement, all desperate to change what it means to be a woman. As these three move about their lives, grow up and fall in love, they come to realise that their childish ideals of a perfect world require a bit more hard work. 

It was incredibly clever and informative without being too imposing - it gave a very good impression of what life was actually like in the 1910's, not knowing the significance of larger events, just going about daily life. As a bit of a history nerd, I adored reading about their lives, how each family worked and lived a slightly different way but all wanted a better life. 

I fell in love with all of them, and especially appreciated how each young woman encompassed a different value of the Suffragettes. Nell, used to wearing her brother's hand-me-downs, was hard working and tough and wanted what was best for her large family. When she meets May, their differences seem hardly important and they fall head over heels - which was not only adorable but so unique in a historical fiction, I nearly cried! It was just May and her mother, both Quakers and pacifists, who have differing opinions to the rest of the country when war is declared. Evelyn is determined to have the same opportunities as her older brother and wants to study at university, whereas her parents want her to marry. 

As I said, they might be different women on the outside but all three just wanted a world that treated them fairly. It was just fascinating to read about women with their feet on the ground, as it were, in the midst of the Suffrage movement and the first year of the Great War. Definitely a new favourite and one I will be happily recommending. 

Published 7th September 2017 by Anderson. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Ami lives with her mother on an island where the sea is as blue as the sky. It’s all she knows and loves, but the arrival of malicious government official Mr Zamora changes her world forever: her island is to be made into a colony for lepers. Taken from her mother and banished across the sea, Ami faces an uncertain future in an orphanage. There she meets a honey-eyed girl named for butterflies, and together they discover a secret that will lead her on an adventure home. Ami must go back to the island of no return, but will she make it in time?

Ami lives on a beautiful island but when an outsider comes to change the rules, she realises that the rest of the world doesn't see her home as beautiful, they see it as dangerous. Because lepers live there, and more are being moved there. Set in the Philippines in the early 20th century, Ami's life is uprooted by the government's new rules that she and other kids that don't suffer from leprosy are to be moved to another island, to an orphanage. 

Just as beautifully written as The Girl of Ink and Stars, it was so incredibly sad, both how they were treated and the individual stories of Ami and her mother, and others like them. When Ami is taken across the sea, she vows to return but turns out that's harder than is seems when Mr Zamora is on the warpath. He was an awful character, so fearful and rude of those who suffered. Ami is quick to realise something is wrong with him is a very different way than the physical, and that is why I adored her. She desperately wanted to go home but even as a twelve year old, she was blind to the prejudice and feelings of others.

This story can be summarised as short and sweet, although mildly heartbreaking as well. It's such a unique topic to explore but a very important one, as the scientific breakthroughs and the development of medicine impacted the modern world but the treatment of those people, seeing them as individuals with families and homes, isn't something we often consider. I adored this story, Ami was so incredibly brave and I can't believe Hargrave packed so much into 200 pages!

Published 4th May 2017 by Chicken House. Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

And I Darken by Kiersten White

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwyla likes it that way.

Ever since she and her brother were abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman sultan’s courts, Lada has known that ruthlessness is the key to survival. For the lineage that makes her and her brother special also makes them targets.
Lada hones her skills as a warrior as she nurtures plans to wreak revenge on the empire that holds her captive. Then she and Radu meet the sultan’s son, Mehmed, and everything changes. Now Mehmed unwittingly stands between Lada and Radu as they transform from siblings to rivals, and the ties of love and loyalty that bind them together are stretched to breaking point.

The first of an epic new trilogy starring the ultimate anti-princess who does not have a gentle heart. Lada knows how to wield a sword, and she'll stop at nothing to keep herself and her brother alive.

A feminist re-telling of the history of Vlad the Impaler, I was immediately drawn to this before I even knew what it was about! But I was drawn in to the historical fiction/high fantasy vibe, the rich detailing of the history of the Ottoman Empire and its utterly badass heroine.

Straight out, Lada is a fascinating character. Determined to gain her father’s love, or even attention, Lada is a fierce and tough little girl. Also completely psychotic, Lada strives for physical power and develops a brutal fighting style, grows cold in her lack of affection and learns to only rely on herself. It got really interesting in the second half, once she’s grown up, a bit more… comfortable might be too strong a word but close enough, in her femininity. She still wants to be one of the men and brute strength is all she knows, so she never really knows how to use her femininity to her advantage like some of the other women do. 

As children, Lada and Radu are starved of affection, they grow up knowing their father has traded them for safety and then later abandoned them for his own gain, and they quickly learn that they language and their people are slaves to the whim of the sultan. The two siblings had a strange relationship as Lada protects him without showing it, without showing weakness. But from Radu's perspective, we see how Lada’s toughness affects him, makes him feel unloved and how he finds comfort and falls in love with Islam – while Lada only trusts herself, Radu needs the security and peace that comes with faith.

Onto their new protector in foreign land and future sultan, Mehmed. Even though Mehmed had his idiotic moments (like thinking he could keep Lada safe from battle. Does he know her at all?! This is the same girl who has killed two men before they killed you! Idiot.), I really liked him. He desperately wanted to be a good leader and live up to his country’s expectations, plus he was a very good fighter and strategist, and friend to Lada and Radu. Speaking of, there was a different kind of love triangle, which would normally annoy me beyond belief but here I was so on-board with the diversity, it didn't have a chance to irritate me!

I wasn’t sure I wanted there to be a romance but they practically grew up together, it was almost inevitable. There were a few instances near the end as Mehmed proves that loving Lada doesn’t mean he isn’t going to… partake in his perks as sultan. Honestly, when a second child of his was born in mere months, I wanted to smack him upside the head! I hate to generalise but is it a teenage boy thing to only think with his dick? Because that’s what Mehmed was doing. And it annoyed the crap out of me. This is a tough case of modern feminist versus historical accuracy and luckily it worked, as I was really rooting for Mehmed and Lada towards the end.

All throughout, we are shown different types of power: physical strength and political know-how, which are as different as the two siblings who use them. The story was slow-moving as we see the shift in power, as Mehmed matures and learns how to control and provide faith in his people. It was very slow to start but the rich history, the incredible characters and their development, and the volatile time period it was depicting kept me hooked. And as you can see, I had a lot to say about it! It really was a coming-of-age beginning for Lada and I cannot wait to see how she grows into the fearless leader we recognise from history. 

Published 7th July 2016 by Corgi.

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

In one devastating night, Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has travelled not just miles but years from home.
Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods - a powerful family in the Colonies - and the servitude he's known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can't escape and the family that won't let him go. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, his passenger, can find.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveller who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods' grasp. But as they get closer to their target, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home forever.


When I picked this up, all I knew about it was that nearly everyone loved it, and it had time travelling pirates! Well, luckily the hype lived up to expectations for me! Etta didn't have any idea about her time travelling gene - in this and quite a few other respects it reminded me of Kirsten Gier's Ruby Red trilogy, but it had this whole other feel to it. The time travelling was, of course, super complicated but so much fun, seeing history happen right in front of you


Etta and Nicholas were pretty incredible, both as characters and as a couple. Etta was this musical prodigy and was worried about getting home so she could play her debut; she was also worried about her mum and the secrets that she was apparently keeping from her, and Rose, the adopted grandmother and violin teacher that Etta might not be able to save. She was a fantastic heroine, smart and quick and considering she was literally dropped in a pirate ship in 1776, she handled it all rather well!


Nicholas was born in the 1760's and is of African descent, so he has very different concerns to Etta. Being literally owned by the Ironwoods hangs over him and he will do whatever it takes to leave this family, even spy on Etta. But of course they grow closer and Nicholas can't see what is so dangerous about this girl that the head of the Ironwood family cannot trust her.


There was also a great and complex relationship between Etta and Sophia, an Ironwood and the guardian sent to bring Etta to back in time. They don't like each other and Sophia will, and in fact does, throw Etta over to get what she wants but it was all about girl power, and sticking together in a tough situation. That is until they are both out of it and Sophia can stab Etta in the back again!


This book had everything from heart-wrenching romance to heart-in-your-throat action and it was all kinds of amazing! Definitely lived up to expectations and I cannot wait for the next book; that cliff-hanger needs sorting pronto!


Published 7th April 2016 by Quercus. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ruby Red trilogy by Kirstin Gier

Sixteen-year-old Gwen lives with her extended - and rather eccentric - family in an exclusive London neighborhood. In spite of her ancestors' peculiar history, she's had a relatively normal life so far. The time-traveling gene that runs like a secret thread through the female half of the family is supposed to have skipped over Gwen, so she hasn't been introduced to "the mysteries," and can spend her time hanging out with her best friend, Lesley. It comes as an unwelcome surprise when she starts taking sudden, uncontrolled leaps into the past.

She's totally unprepared for time travel, not to mention all that comes with it: fancy clothes, archaic manners, a mysterious secret society, and Gideon, her time-traveling counterpart. He's obnoxious, a know-it-all, and possibly the best-looking guy she's seen in any century . . . .

Spread over three books, this tells of Gwen and her sudden ability to travel through time. There was a lot of interweaving time travel throughout the three books, for instance, a glimpse into the future in book 1 didn’t happen in the present until hallway through book 3! Also because there was so much happening, I often forgot it was set over a few days – well, I think the course of the trilogy was over about 2 weeks. It felt so long mostly because of the time travel, flitting back and forth in just a few hours, but also particularly when Gwen started travelling uncontrolled and got to grips with her new gift; there was lots of talking it over with best friend Lesley and mulling/stressing it over in her head.

Gwen felt quite young; considering she’s supposed to be 16, she was naïve, especially with boys and the “real world”, but she had her moments of strength and bravery. For the most part, she managed to hold her own in the clutches of the secret society, although when she got yelled at for not knowing things, I wanted to coddle her and yell back “it’s not her fault she got a normal education!” But she was pretty normal for a heroine in a science fiction book; she worried about her homework and kissing boys and annoying her younger siblings. Plus she had a very cool gift of speaking to ghosts, that was kind of random but in the end, it did make sense. I think.

As for her love interest, Gideon was all kinds of incredible. His estimation of Gwen changed depending on his mood so he was quite snarky but he knew his stuff and was very protective over her. Plus he could sword fight, who doesn’t love that quality in a man?

Prophecies, time travel, secret societies, first love, ghostly gargoyles – what didn’t this series have? This whole business with “the secret is the secret” malarkey and the impact Gwen had on the prophecy was really confusing and as we were seeing it from Gwen’s perspective, we didn’t figure it out for a long while but it was quite clever. It wasn’t rushed at the end, Gwen and the gang debated over and weighed up how to deal with the bad guy, the creepy Count before taking action. I liked that maturity and almost level-headed-ness because as Gwen’s life was at stake, there was a lot to consider. All in all, parts seemed juvenile but it was clever and funny and had great mix of action and romance.

After The Last Dance by Sarra Manning

Two women. Two love affairs. One unforgettable story.

Kings Cross station, 1943. Rose arrives in London hoping to swap the drudgery of wartime for romance, glamour and jiving with GIs at Rainbow Corner, the famous dance hall in Piccadilly Circus. As the bombs fall, Rose loses her heart to a pilot but will lose so much more before the war has done its worst.

Las Vegas, present day. A beautiful woman in a wedding dress walks into a seedy bar and asks the first man she sees to marry her. When Leo slips the ring onto Jane's finger, he has no idea that his new wife will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

So when Jane meets Rose, now a formidable older lady, there's no love lost between them. But with time running out, can Rose and Jane come together to make peace with the tragic secrets that have always haunted their lives?

After the Last Dance is an extraordinary story of two women, separated by time but connected by fate, that will make you believe in the redemptive power of unexpected love.

Two seemingly completely different stories, one in the wartime London, the other modern Vegas, connected by Rose, a young girl in one, a formidable but ill old woman in the other. Young Rose was an interesting character. She also grew up to be pretty damn interesting too! But a 17 year old running away to London for adventure in the middle of the Blitz was quite ballsy. We meet modern Rose as her great nephew, Leo, runs back home after too many years away, with new wife in tow.

Rose was just incredible - if I can grow up to be like her, then I'm happy. From getting a job at Rainbow Corner and supporting the GI's and armed forces in London, to losing her heart, her friends and all sorts in the bombings, then gaining some perspective and some love back in helping house refugees. Then there's the adventures between the two narratives, her life with her love (who I won't name for spoilers), her booming real estate and art empire, her extended family.

Jane, on the other hand, took a while to warm up to. It was clear from the start that she was used to getting her way and used any sort of manipulation tactic to get it. Even in her head, she didn't open up about her past or how she got to where she is; she obviously didn't like to linger on her bad thoughts. But once we spent a bit more time with her, really got under her skin, you realised how damaged she was and how much she relied on her mask.

You all should know by now how much of a Manning fangirl I am, and even though this was adult and set out quite a bit differently to her other works, I still loved it. It had her classic story telling, her complex and plentiful characters, and a very well-researched historical half.

Published 10th March 2016 by Sphere. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

Rose Justice is a young pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War. On her way back from a semi-secret flight in the waning days of the war, Rose is captured by the Germans and ends up in Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi women's concentration camp. There, she meets an unforgettable group of women, including a once glamorous and celebrated French detective novelist whose Jewish husband and three young sons have been killed; a resilient young girl who was a human guinea pig for Nazi doctors trying to learn how to treat German war wounds; and a Nachthexen, or Night Witch, a female fighter pilot and military ace for the Soviet air force.

These damaged women must bond together to help each other survive. In this companion volume to the critically acclaimed novel Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein continues to explore themes of friendship and loyalty, right and wrong, and unwavering bravery in the face of indescribable evil.

Rose was a pilot, an American young woman now in England, ferrying planes and their passengers across the country and into France. Until she tries to take down a flying bomb and flies over enemy territory. Rose is captured and sent to a woman's concentration camp, where she sees first hand what she used to think was propaganda: young women being experimented on, their skin peeled away and injected with viruses to see the extent of the damage. For Rose, someone who hasn't grown up in the war, only recently exposed to the dangers, she is rudely awakened to the horrors.

This is my first audiobook, so it was a very different experience for me. It was quite strange listening to the words rather than hearing them in my head, but narrator was good and the songs and poems were meant to be read aloud. Hearing the Polish and French accents, the pure terror and un-shed tears in their voices, definitely added to the reading experience and tugged on my heart strings in a way that is different to reading them at my own pace. 

It took me longer to finish this; it's quite a long book, a little over 400 pages I think, but making time to listen was an odd experience but one that I would like to repeat. Hearing a definitive voice made the character much more real and all the girls were just incredible characters that deserved that extra attention. A companion novel to Code Name Verity, it was very much along the same lines of wartime scenes, horrible truths and unwavering loyalties, and just as heart-wrenching and moving. 

Published 1st June 2013 by Bolinda Publishing.

Longbow Girl by Linda Davies

While out riding, schoolgirl Merry Owen finds a chest containing an ancient Welsh text that leads her into a past filled with treasure, secrets and danger. But it's her skill with the Longbow, an old family tradition, that will save her future.

Merry's family has lived and worked on the same farm in Wales for generations but now money is running out and their land is under threat from the other old family living in the hills. 

This was historical fiction with a twist of time travel. I loved the crossover; the actual time travel might have come a little late for my liking but Merry wasn't your typical young girl and worked out how to go back and forth and change her family's future. I loved how the history was intertwined with the present, the implications the burial site had on Merry's future. 

Plus, it was so easy to read, to fall into Merry's life and go along on her adventure, as she takes on her family's financial burden and desperately tries to save her family's legacy. And through this legacy, the two families history and battle for the land, we learned some Welsh mythology. I don't know much about that part of the country so it was really cool to see how the land, the Brecon hills and everything else, had influenced the stories that have been passed down. All in all, a great read, something new to break out of my comfort zone, maybe a little young but still a well written story of family and history.

Published 3rd September 2015 by Chicken House.

The Girl in the Mask by Marie-Louise Jensen

Set in Georgian England, fifteen-year-old Sophia is trapped by the limitations of living in a man's world. Forced by her father to give up everything she loves, Sophia is ordered to make a new life in Bath. By day, she is trapped in the social whirl of balls and masquerades. By night, she secretly swaps her ball gowns for breeches, and turns to highway robbery to get her revenge ...When one man begins to take a keen interest in her, Sophia must keep her distance, or risk unmasking her secret life.

A few things right off: I love historical fiction and Georgian Bath is the greatest setting if there ever was one. Set in the early 18th century, it's a time period I don't have much knowledge off, so quite a few references went over my head (I looked them up), but it was nice to learn something new.

Sophia was adorable. Trapped by societal pressure and her father, she just wants to read poetry, not learn how to dance or look for a husband. She might have caught the eye of a particular gentleman but she was not interested in marriage, she wanted to know why he was acting so strangely. 

Sophia being a highwayman wasn't that much of a plot point, not as much as I expected anyway but watching her navigate Bath's social scene and get swept up in the Jacobian riots was very fun. It was all about coded messages, riots, planning subterfuge and escaping gun powder. Her father and Aunt Amelia were just awful but Sophia proved herself, proved her worth as more than something to be passed off for marriage and I was so proud of her. 

Published 12th February 2012 by Oxford University Press. 

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O'Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. Now that the world knows of her ability to "read" objects, and therefore, read the past, she has become a media darling, earning the title, "America's Sweetheart Seer." But not everyone is so accepting of the Diviners' abilities...

Meanwhile, mysterious deaths have been turning up in the city, victims of an unknown sleeping sickness. Can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld and catch a killer?

Second in The Diviners series, we learn more about Evie's story alongside many other characters. At over 600 pages, book two is as much as a beast to read as the first one but luckily just as easy to get into. Yeah, all the flitting between characters and story lines was still confusing but more of them tied together which is satisfying. 

So we still follow Evie and her cohorts around, but not so much from Jericho this time, which is sad because I like him, more Sam, more Henry, plus new character Ling. As Memphis has started dating Theta, we hear more from them too, as well as both of their background. All these characters should feel completely random but as it turns out they are all connected through this unknown Diviner power, and learned how and to what degree was like solving a mystery.

Speaking of Diviner power, there is a dangerous new ghost on the loose, spreading dreams that suck you in and don't let you wake up. This so-called sleeping sickness is claiming lives and apparently started in Chinatown. Bray does another great job of showing the era, along with another side of New York City's underbelly, this time in the form of racism. With all the fear, people was scared and taking it out on the city's immigrants. 

Maybe not as enthralling as book one but still a mighty read with grit, romance and danger. Some secrets are still unsolved and I know that Bray can deliver a great story and hopefully some answers with book three.

Published 25th August 2015 by Atom.

Crow Mountain by Lucy Inglis

While on holiday in Montana, Hope meets local boy Cal Crow, a ranch hand. Caught in a freak accident, the two of them take shelter in a mountain cabin where Hope makes a strange discovery. More than a hundred years earlier, another English girl met a similar fate. Her rescuer: a horse-trader called Nate.

In this wild place, both girls learn what it means to survive and to fall in love, neither knowing that their fates are intimately entwined. 

Firstly: oh my gods! After the slightly disappointing story of Inglis' first novel City of Halves, I wasn't all too sure about this. But very quickly I realised that her writing style and pace had improved but not lost her love and knowledge of history. 

I started preferring Hope's story to Emily's, as it was the modern one, but very quickly I fell completely in love with Emily and Nate. Both couples were somewhat forced together but came to love each other because of who they were, what they had to survive together, and understand each other's perspectives. 

Both girls stories were so romantic, proper sweeping, whole hearted romance with great build up and epic landscapes. Set in Montana, this was perfect for both girls. Cut off from everything, even in modern times, you were really one with nature and had to depend on the land, like the original pioneers. I so felt for Emily, her circumstances were not the best but her parents wanted her to be happy. It was also shocking to believe they were pushing her into marriage without explaining, well anything! Like a different world, the past; the historical research was evident in Emily's story, from her arranged marriage to the Native American tribes.

I was happily surprised by how much I loved this. I fell completely in love, like you wouldn't believe, with Emily and Nate. And the connection with the modern story, Cal's family history, Hope's mirrored part - just excellent story telling. I think I have a new favourite historical romance!

Published 3rd September 2015 by Chicken House. Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

1920's New York, home of speakeasies, flappers and all-night dancing. And also the home of secrets, ghosts and dangerous zealots. We follow Evie as she is sent to New York to try and learn some responsibility. Instead (obviously) she has more fun than she could ever have in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. But then an angry spirit is awakened and Evie gets swept up in the hunt for the murderer and to get her uncles quiet museum some press.

There was so much going on! The murders, both past and present, the magical abilities, religion, as well as multiple characters with their own histories and secrets. Full of possibility, New York City was a great setting and the 20's, with its illegal drinking, dance clubs open all night and dark alleys where men lurk, was a great time for the past and present to blend together and the veils between worlds to clash.

Evie was a great character. She was spunky and sassy, determined to live life at its fullest and a little thing like murder wasn't going to stop her. And the people she meet in the city, from dance star Theta to dark poet Memphis, made everything come alive, including the secrets they all held dear. Turns out it is a secret they all share and something is coming. It was all very dramatic and secretive and very dark, but so fascinating to learn about something that no one could really explain. As I said, setting it in the 20's was great, it not only made the normal feel different - as it is compared to now - the occult and the spiritualism made everything feel fantastical and strange and sometimes deadly. 

Luckily, book two is due out at the end of the month, so I don't have to wait long to find out what happens next. Which is great, because Bray set up some amazing cliffhangers and some teasing questions that I desperately need answers for!

Published 2013 by Atom.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Young, beautiful and deadly. Trained as an assassin by the god of Death, Ismae is sent to the court of Brittany, where she finds herself under prepared - not only for the games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

The first in the series, I've been eyeing it up for a while and finally picked up a copy in the library. And while some parts took me by surprise, it was still a great story. This was a new piece of history for me, set in medieval France when Brittany was its own country and under threat from the French.

Ismae has been rescued from an awful arranged marriage and an abusive husband, and has been trained as a handmaiden for the old god of death. She was an incredibly cool heroine. Strong and skilled, Ismae is out on her first proper mission but soon finds she's out of her depth and surrounded by possible enemies. Not sure who to trust, she awaits instructions from the abbey but they seem to contradict what she's observing. So who's lying, the people at court or the abbess? 

The whole story, taking instructions from marks made by a god, the subterfuge at court with its politics and lies, and never knowing who to trust made for some very well-paced tension as well as a great adventurous plot. Ismae has a lot to deal with, some threats more dangerous than others, and all by herself. Her story battling the politics and the enemies of state was exciting and interesting, and LaFevers writing style, blending history and intrigue, was gripping. 

Published 7th June 2012 by Anderson Press. 

The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

THE GAME'S AFOOT...
It is November 1890 and London is gripped by a merciless winter. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are enjoying tea by the fire when an agitated gentleman arrives unannounced at 221b Baker Street. He begs Holmes for help, telling the unnerving story of a scar-faced man with piercing eyes who has stalked him in recent weeks.
Intrigued, Holmes and Watson find themselves swiftly drawn into a series of puzzling and sinister events, stretching from the gas-lit streets of London to the teeming criminal underworld of Boston and the mysterious 'House of Silk'... 

This is my first Sherlock Holmes novel - I know the basic stories, I've seen the movies and the BBC series - I am a fan but haven't read the original stories. So this was interesting. I could tell that Horowitz was mimicking the original writing style, which I thought he did very well but I had nothing to compare it to.

So, Watson narrates the tale from later years, which I understand is typical; from this future vantage point, we get the occasional extra titbit, like the last time Watson saw Lestrade and Watson's sadness after the loss of Holmes. The story itself was very good. It was a fairly complicated story, with multiple crimes but came full roundabout, as it so often does. I don't usually read crime, it is a different experience of uncovering clues than watching it play out on a screen. It was good, although I did have Robert Downey Junior and Stephen Fry in my head for quite a lot of the story! 

I think Horowitz did the original stories justice, adding a new Holmes story to the already great collection. The characters were amazing, just to see a different side to them was so fun, and the mystery was very well written, full of twists and typical Holmes shocks. All in all, a great book about the master of crime solving.

Published 30th August 2012 by Orion. 

Dodger by Terry Pratchett

Dodger is a tosher – a sewer scavenger living in the squalor of Dickensian London. Everyone who is nobody knows Dodger. Anyone who is anybody doesn’t.

But when he rescues a young girl from a beating, suddenly everybody wants to know him. And Dodger’s tale of skulduggery, dark plans and even darker deeds begins . .

This has been sat on my shelves for an embarrassingly long time! I adore Terry Pratchett and his unique writing style, it just takes me ages to read, which is why I've been putting this off. This was something different for Pratchett, a re-telling of Oliver Twist, something, as a English graduate and huge book-nerd, I got very excited about.

It told of young Dodger, a seventeen year old lad, toughing it out on the streets of London. Until he rescues a young woman from blackguards and finds himself in a rather complicated and dangerous adventure. Pratchett wrote a funny, and very cockney, voice for Dodger, with slurred vowels and missing t's. Plus, it was set over a Victorian London backdrop, where Pratchett depicts the dramatic social changes, the gap between classes and of course the ugly underbelly of London, centred on Dodger's sewer territory. 

While the story was quite long and maybe a little convoluted, it was very entertaining with a mad variety of characters, including Mr Dickens himself. It was typically hilarious and witty and clever, just classic Pratchett.

As a final side note, I of course have to mention the sad news of his passing. I was at work when I found out, I teared up and we made a display table for him immediately. 

Published 13th September 2012 by Doubleday.

The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable

Alone in the world, Sophie dreams of being someone special, but she could never have imagined this. 

On a school trip to Russia, Sophie and her two friends find themselves on the wrong train. They are rescued by the beautiful Princess Anna Volkonskaya, who takes them to her winter palace and mesmerises them with stories of lost diamonds and a tragic past. 

But as night falls and wolves prowl, Sophie discovers more than dreams in the crumbling palace of secrets

This is a bit younger than I normally read but still an amazing story. It told of Sophie, an orphan who dreams of adventure and family. When a mystery woman turns up at her school with assurances to whisk her away to Russia, Sophie can't believe her luck. Things after that are quite confusing; Sophie and her two friends apparently get on the wrong train, they are abandoned on said train and a strange man (I pictured a Hagrid-like figure here, it worked) picks them up from an empty train station in the middle of a snow storm. So yeah, definitely an adventure!

The beautiful princess Anna rescues them from the snow, welcomes them to her - admittedly cold and deserted - castle and tells them of her family, the brave prince who distracted rioters so his wife and child could flee during the revolution. There, the girls are drawn into the mystery of the family's lost diamonds and the protection of the wolves.

What I was most impressed with was the descriptions and imagery; the ice and snow over Russia was almost fantastical and I was actually shivering when the three girls were thrown out into the snow! The whole mystery of the family and the dilapidated house and the reason the girls were even there was absorbing and I had to know the truth. The influence of the folk tale aspect was very well done and did a lot to help the mystery and strange-ness of the story. I really loved this story, it was beautifully written and set out with a winter-y and fantastical elements, not to mention the harsh betrayal and the shock ending that had me gasping. 

Published January 2015 by Chicken House.

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Tessa Gray should be happy—aren't all brides happy? Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.

Warning, this review may contain spoilers for previous books in the series.
 
This is it, the final installment of the Infernal Devices. I launched myself straight into it, literally immediately after Clockwork Prince. I could not wait to find out what happened next with everyone. And as I expected, Clare did not disappoint. We went from battling a giant demon worm - both hilarious and terrifying - to the final dramatic clash with Mortmain. Tessa was kidnapped, Will runs away to save her while Jem's on his death bed. Add in the threat of Charlotte losing the Institute and you have one incredible book.

We learned much more about the characters, new and old; I completely fell in love with Charlotte and Henry and their relationship, and it was both weird and adorable seeing Cecily and Gabriel. Then of course there was the complex relationship of the trio; I wanted everyone to be happy and it was quite heart-breaking seeing Will around as Tessa and Jem prepared to get married. Speaking of which, this part of the story was quite emotionally driven; considering this is the final book, it wasn't hugely action-packed but it was still an amazing story. I honestly couldn't put it down as we went from London to middle of nowhere Wales to fight Mortmain and his robotic army. 

Now, the ending. After Mortmain has been destroyed once and for all (which was amazing by the way), the final few chapters were like a goodbye. While it was quite long, I liked that the whole summary and happy endings weren't rushed; the characters' futures weren't left to chance and speculation, I for one needed to know that. And finally, one last thing, because trust me I could gone on for quite a while otherwise: I really need to read the Mortal Instruments series now to understand all the references!

Published 5th September 2013 by Walker Books. 

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Love and lies can corrupt even the purest heart... In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, while her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will - the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers to who she is and what she was born to do? As their search for the truth leads the three friends into peril, Tessa's heart is increasingly torn, especially when one of their own betrays them.

Warning: this review may contain spoilers for the first book.

I was so looking forward to carrying on with this series, to finding out what Tessa was and why the Magister wanted her, knowing more about the Shadowhunters and their heritage and of course what the deal was with Will. Clare can tell one heck of a story, winding different character stories together and pulling them all together all the while keeping up a fast pace to the overall plot. I absolutely adore Clare's writing style, it is almost lyrical in its mimicked-Victorian descriptions which was incredible to read.

We finally found out Will's secret, the reason he's the way he is and while I'm not going to ruin the secret, can I just say it completely broke my heart? Jem came out of his shell too, sometimes showing a lighter side as well as his strength. We got more from well-loved characters as well as some new ones. I especially loved Woolsey Scott, the London werewolf pack leader and the return of Magnus Bane. The wide variety of characters and their individual development was very well done and even with so many, I never felt lost. 

Onto the main storyline, the threat of Mortmain looms closer but there was no sign of the great evil one, instead we learned more about his motives and his minions. Speaking of, Nate makes a comeback. He was truly weasel-like in his actions and every time he opened his mouth, my skin crawled. And the betrayal was quite a shock as well; it was a horrible thought that anyone would hurt the Shadowhunters' cause but one of their own did, and it hurt. 

This might have been the middle book in the trilogy, it never felt like a filler. The story kept moving at a fast pace, and Clare definitely kept me in suspense! I quickly fell in love with this story and its characters and the second book didn't change that feeling. 

Published 1st May 2013 by Walker Books.