Walker Books

Queer Up by Alexis Caught — An Uplifting Self Help Book for Teens

14th Jun 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for a queer self-help book that’s both heart-warming and full of love…this is for you!

This was a quick and lovely read, the kind of book that presents itself as both a hug and an encouragement. The author introduces themselves as not a mentor or a teacher, but as a friend. Your older queer sibling. They’re also a therapist so the book was filled with a lot of self-love reminders and grounding techniques and reminders to breathe and remember you are loved. When you read this book, you get such a strong sense of community. It’s full of snippets and perspectives and stories from other queer people from all walks of life, so it just felt like a group of your queer elders coming together to tell you everything’s going to be okay.

The book covers…

basic education on lgbtqia+ labels and identities (it’s an overview, probably designed to give you a starting point to go do more research now that you have accessible language and understanding of labels, rather than going into super deep detail about each label)
brief notes on queer history and rights
some sex-education and discussions on things like boundaries and being safe (emotionally and physically)
questioning and understanding yourself
tips for allies
finding a queer community
help lines and resources
the trans community and trans+ identities

I think it was great that it included sections, comments and thoughts for allies to read. And while it DID say that the “A” stands for asexual, it didn’t mention aromantic at all in the book, and it said A also stands for “ally”. I have to disagree there. And I don’t understand why people think ally should be part of the queer spectrum letters because, as the book literally said, you don’t get an award for showing up to be a decent person!? Anyway 😂👌🏻 A tangent.

The design is also really nice! There are speech bubbles and little cute illustrations, and it just all felt so friendly and easy to read. Truly a book designed to make readers feel welcome.

While it didn’t get very deep into anything, and did read like an overview, I think it did exactly what it set out to do: be an uplifting guide. It’s definitely great for younger teens and honestly anyone new to information about queer identities.

A kind and caring book aimed at young people exploring or wanting to learn more about the lgbtqia+ spectrum! Definitely worth picking up.

Thanks to Walker Books AUS for the review copy!

Title: Queer Up: An Uplifting Guide to LGBTQ+ Love Life and Mental Health
Author: Alexis Caught
Date Published: May 4th, 2022
Genre: YA NonFiction, Self Help
Publisher: Walker Books
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks, Amazon US
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A positive and uplifting book for young people who are queer or curious – and their allies looking to support them.
In this empowering and uplifting book, award-winning podcaster Alexis Caught sets out to help queer and curious teenagers explore their LGBTQ+ identity and understanding. Alongside the author’s personal experiences are first-hand stories from notable LGBTQ+ figures, providing a inclusive account of what it means to grow up queer. With chapters on questioning, coming out, friends and family, love, sex, shame, pride and allyship, this is insightful, thoughtful and reassuring book is essential reading for any questioning teen and their allies looking to support them.

Middle Grade Mini Reviews! Loki, The Astronaughties & The Great Fox Illusion

20th Apr 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 1 Comment

Helloooo it is time for some middle grade mini reviews!

I received these three books with thanks from Walker Books and thought I’d do a little review for each here. They’re all quite short and pretty fun reads 🤗 So if you’re a middle-grade lover or have a small human in your life who needs books, hopefully these recommendations will help you!

Title: The Astronaughties by Andrew Cranna
Date Published: May, 2022
Genre: Middle Grade SFF
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks, Walker Books
About the book: It’s 101 years in the future and the Moon has been transformed into the ultimate super-cool intergalactic amusement park. The Astronaughties, the children of some of the park’s designers, get a chance to visit the Lunar Park before it officially opens. But when they arrive, they discover their parents are missing. Now their mission is to find them, defeat the baddies and free a trapped alien. Hold on tight, this is going to be one wild rocket ride!

This is a silly and fun story about three naughty little kids who end up on the moon. It definitely leans into the nonsense aspect and as the story goes, the adventure just gets more wild and random. It’s definitely perfect for younger readers with big, fun font, and it’s entirely illustrated as a graphic novel. At the beginning the book is told by the kids’ robot nanny who is overheating his little batteries trying to keep the kids out of trouble. The villains are all very nefarious and foolish, and the kids end up doing the right thing on…accident. Also add in aliens and roller coasters on the moons and slimy eggs and buying milk in the milky way.

Title: Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good by Louie Stowell
Date Published: May 18th, 2022
Genre: Middle Grade SFF
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks, Walker Books
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About the book: After one prank too many, trickster god Loki has been banished to live as a kid on Earth. If he can show moral improvement within one month, he can return to Asgard. If he can’t? Eternity in a pit of angry snakes. Rude! To keep track of Loki’s progress, King Odin (a bossy poo-poo head) gives him this magical diary in which Loki is forced to confess the truth, even when that truth is as ugly as a naked mole rat. To make matters worse, Loki has to put up with an eleven-year-old Thor tagging along and making him look bad. Loki is not even allowed to use his awesome godly powers! As Loki suffers the misery of school lunch, discovers the magic of internet videos, and keeps watch for frost giant spies, will he finally learn to tell good from bad, trust from tricks, and friends from enemies?

I liked the premise of this one! Reminded me of Rick Riordan’s retelling of the god Apollo being turned into a teen boy as punishment. Except this time it’s Loki, god of mischief, being made into an 11-year-old disaster child who has to earn points to prove he’s Good to be allowed back into this god form. It eludes to a lot of Norse mythology too, but in a lowkey way. It also has lots of illustrations and fun font changes, to keep young readers engaged.

But some of the underlying messages didn’t sit right with me. Telling kids you need to “earn points” to be good isn’t great. And while Loki was deliberately obtuse, I feel like the few times he tried to be good and ended up making things worse were reminiscent of telling the “bad kids” that they’re always going to be bad. Especially when Loki took a lot things literally (which made him feel coded as neurodiverse). I’m sure the book is meant to be silly, light-hearted fun, but I wouldn’t recommend it for neurodiverse or black-and-white thinking children.

Title: The Great Fox Illusion by Justyn Edwards
Date Published: April, 2022
Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks, Walker Books
Add on Goodreads
About the book: Thirteen-year-old Flick Lions has won a place on a new television show, in which young people compete to win the legacy of the Great Fox, one of the world’s most famous magicians. But Flick isn’t interested in uncovering the Great Fox’s tired old magic tricks – she’s after something much more important. The magician destroyed her family, and this is Flick’s only chance to put things right. Inside the Fox’s house is a secret that will change the world of magic for ever, and Flick will go to any lengths to find it.

This was a really fun and cute story of friendship and magicians, and I really enjoyed it! It features the unstoppable and determined Flick, who has entered a TV reality show contest to uncover the secrets of a great magician. The winner gets to inherit his WHOLE estate. Tricks. House. Fortune. The works. Flick is a talented little magician herself, but also wants answers why her father disappeared — and the Great Fox stole her father’s greatest magic trick. Flick wants it back.

Flick is impossible not to love. Tenacious and very self-sufficient, she’s easy to root for. She also is an amputee and wears a prosthetic leg, and I felt the book was so respectful yet mindful of her abilities and limitations. It took time to talk about pains from prosthetics and gave Flick logical accommodations. Too often I feel like kids’ books have the message of “you can do it DESPITE your disability!” But there wasn’t that tone here. Flick is disabled, needs help, and can still do all the things. Loved this.

There’s also lots of disclosing on how magic tricks are done, which is so fun. And Flick makes a talkative friend named Charlie with secrets of his own as to why he wants to win. (I suspect Charlie is coded as autistic?) They’re up against two other kid aspiring magicians who nicely balance between being lowkey bullies vs just kids desperate to win for their own parents’ approval. There’s lots of puzzles to unravel, secret rooms, mysteries, and nods to famous magicians. Lots of fun, fast-paced and easy to read. Recommended for ages 10+!

The Bravest Word by Kate Foster — Tender Story About Depression & Rescuing Dogs

19th Apr 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury Leave a Comment

The Bravest Word is really something special.

This is such a gentle and powerful story about an 11-year-old kid who is suffering from depression, and look, let’s be real here, I teared up. 😭 Not because the book was hopeless — rather because it was so infused with hope and love that it just wrecks you in a really lovely way. I genuinely recommend this to everyone. It doesn’t just explain things like panic attacks and depressive episodes to kids in an accessible way, but it also says how you can help. From giving Matt a father who listens to him, to friends who stick around. It’s just 🥺💛 Plus add in some adorable dog content and you have just an amazing little book that should be on all shelves.

Matt is a pretty regular kid with two loving parents and a nice school and friends and a place on the football team. He doesn’t understand his sudden tiredness, his loss of motivation and hunger, the way he just keeps crying and doesn’t want to be around people. The panic attacks. The dread over football. Why he just wants to sleep. He knows something is wrong, but he doesn’t have the language to articulate it. And of course so many adults’ mentality is “kids can’t get depressed” so his mother dismisses the problems. Only his dad gently notices and tries to be supportive. Matt overhears the word “depression” from his dad talking to his mum and that leads Matt to research it a little. But still — talking about it? Facing it? He doesn’t know how.

I love Dad, and Mum, but talk to them? About all this, my weird crying and chest tightening, how I feel scared all the time? I don’t know. I don’t think I could ever tell them about all this stuff happening. How do you tell the people who love you most, the ones who give you everything and want you to be happy, that actually you aren’t happy but you don’t know why?

The only thing keeping him going is the desperate hope to adopt this little abandon dog that Matt and his dad rescued while on a hike. I loved the rescue scenes. It will punch your heart, because little Cliff is so hurt and scared (and look, animal abuse makes me furious). The little dog just up and STEALS Matt’s heart and he becomes such a loving, tender carer for Cliff.

And I adored the way Matt realises Cliff is saving him as much as he is saving Cliff.

The whole book is just so tender. There’s heartache and mistakes (especially on the mother’s part), but there’s also growth and communication. I remember being 14 and having my first panic attack with no words to know what I was going through — so just knowing that kids can have access to books like these is so important.

Sad and bittersweet, but also infused with soft hope, The Bravest Word is a book about boy and dog rescuing each other and the reminder that no one should suffer alone. It takes bravery to ask for help.

Thanks to Walker Books AUS for the review copy!

Title: The Bravest Word
Author: Kate Foster
Date Published: May, 2022
Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary
Publisher: Walker Books
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks
Add it on Goodreads
A rescue story of love and trust between a boy and a dog from the talented author of PAWS.
“Do you hear that? You’re Cliff now, and your life is going to get better, I promise.”
When eleven-year-old Matt finds Cliff, a hurt, neglected dog abandoned in the bush, he knows the brave little pup needs saving. He wants to help. But can he?
Lately, Matt has had way more bad days than good days. The pieces of his life just don’t seem to fit together any more and he doesn’t understand why. He’s finding it impossible to concentrate at school and has lost interest in the activities he used to love. Plus, he’s tired all the time.
Matt’s too afraid to share what’s really going on in his own head with anyone. His friends and family will never understand . . . maybe it’s not only Cliff who needs saving.

[Double Reviews] The Tower At The End of Time & The Revelry – Magical Fantasy Stories

13th Feb 2022 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 1 Comment

I have two reviews to share with you today, for a double little treat 👀👌🏻 These are both sent from Walker Books (thank you so much!) and one is YA and the other is MG. So let’s dive right in 😌 Hope you enjoy!

The Tower At The End Of Time #2 by Amy Sparkes

Date Published: January 6th, 2022
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Publisher: Walker Books
Purchase: Book Depository, Blackwells
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Adventurous, magical and brilliantly funny sequel to The House at the Edge of Magic.
Nine and her friends have broken the curse on their marvellous, magical House, and are free to travel the worlds once more! Their first stop: The Wizarding Hopscotch Championships. There’s only one problem: the House is nervous about travelling – and gets the hiccups! Bouncing from world to world with every “HIC!”, they finally land at the championships, only for Flabberghast to have an unfortunate run-in with square number nine, and find himself faced with the terrible Tower at the End of Time. But maybe here they can find out how to cure the House’s hiccups, and Nine might finally discover who left her the beloved music box, and who she really is… A young middle grade novel full of humour, magic and mischief – and the second in a three book series.

This was a delightful Middle Grade book with so, so much whimsy and chaotic magic! It felt like Alice in Wonderland colliding with Howl’s Moving Castle — but instead this time it’s a very opinionated flying house. And the house is not having a great time considering it has been stationery for 3 years, and now taking off again has left it with a damaging case of the hiccups (it might even explode if this keeps up). Add in an electric array of characters including a bizarre wizard, a talking spoon, a troll, and Nine herself (an orphan who just wants a family!!) and you have a book that is very charming and light-hearted to read.

A small confession here is that, I didn’t know it was a sequel! I was graciously gifted a copy as a surprise, so I just cheerfully dived and was there like, “Hmm, this feels like a sequel? But maybe not.” Well, it was. 😂 That said, I think it was enjoyable on it’s own, but I definitely recommend starting with book one. I’m curious about the origin of Nine and how she came to be tangled up in this moody house. I did feel like Nine didn’t have much agency for most of the book, so I wonder if book 1 set up her character more.

The style is also great for young kids too, with lots of nursery rhyme references and silly magic (hopscotch competitions! magical tea cupboards! enchanted houses with the hiccups!) so it was definitely geared at the littlies. There is a tower of doom to traverse and answers to be found to difficult questions, but at the heart of the book is found-family and lots of inventive problem solving.

A cute read for sure!

The Revelry by Katherine Webber

Date Published: January 6th, 2022
Genre: YA Contemporary Fantasy
Publisher: Walker Books
Purchase: Book Depository, Blackwells, Dymocks
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A story of best friends, bad luck and the consequences of breaking the rules in a town built on secrets and superstitions.
I am girl of Ember Grove, and these are my woods… Growing up in Ember Grove, Bitsy Clark knows better than to mess with the long-held traditions of her hometown. Until her best friend, Amy, persuades her to sneak into the Revelry – the end of school party in the woods, to which only those leaving are invited. When she wakes the next day, Bitsy can’t remember anything from the night before. Weirder still, whenever she tries to speak about the Revelry, Bitsy chokes on the words. But this is just the beginning, and what starts out as a run of bad luck starts to feel like a curse. As Bitsy’s life goes from bad to worse, things only get better and better for her best friend. It’s as if there’s only so much luck to go round and Amy’s getting all of it…

This is a YA contemporary with just a pinch of fantasy, to keep you guessing if everything Bitsy goes through is real…or not. It’s set in a small odd little town, where every year there’s a secret and magical Revelry. Only accessed by invitation to those graduating high school. It’s the Once In A Life Time experience and NO one talks about it afterwards, though it’s definitely said to change your life. The story is told by Bitsy Clark who is dying to get into the Revelry early. She sneaks in with her bestie, Amy, but when they wake up the next morning…they have no idea what happened. The only thing Bitsy knows is that she’s cursed. When something good happens to Amy, something terrible happens to Bitsy. Their friendship starts fracturing big time as the little things grow. Jobs are lost. Embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions happen at school. Bitsy feels like she’s failing at every turn and, worse, Amy doesn’t even seem to care.

So the interesting thing about this is that it’s VERY easy to wonder: is the curse real? Or is Bitsy just being extremely catty to her best friend? There are a lot of coincidences, and a lot of moments where Bitsy’s bad decisions just come back to bite her. I think the book was taking a look at teen girl friendships. How bitterness and cutting behaviour can come out of nowhere, and it can ruin everything if you let it.

Bitsy got more and more focused on herself and her perceived woes that she really treated Amy badly the whole way through. Downside to this — Bitsy was pretty unlikeable. Her selfishness towards Amy was hard to forgive.

I did love the concept of the Revelry, and the snippets of magic in the woods (the strange girl! the history of their little town slowly coming out and dark secrets revealed). It’s also a super fast read, bite sized and concise. If you enjoy books like Moira Fowley-Doyle and The Hazel Wood, this is one to check out.

We Were Wolves by Jason Cockcroft, An Illustrated Story of Survival & Heartache

10th Jun 2021 by C.G. @ Paper Fury Leave a Comment

We Were Wolves is a cold and dark tale of a boy and his father, and how everything implodes between them.

It has such a literary style of writing, introspective and thoughtful. It felt like the boy as an adult talking about this experience that shaped his life forever. At its bones, its a story of trauma and trying to save a parental figure when they should be taking care of their child. It’s about PTSD and retreating into imagination to escape, and it’s about grief and loss and neglect.

The boy (I’m racking my brain but now realising I don’t think he ever had a name?!) lived in a caravan in the woods with his father, John, who has PTSD after the Afghanistan war and he came home and couldn’t reconnect with his family. He’s fallen in with bad people and does robberies, but the boy persistently chooses his father, chooses to love and forgive him and see passed his wounds to be there for him. It’s unconditional love, and it is beautiful on the boy’s part — except for the fact he’s neglected and endangered by his father continually. Their bond is toxic but understandable. But the parental neglect hurt double because the boy HAS A MOTHER. But she just up and let her teen (pre-teen?) son go!?! She loves him, but I honestly found her behaviour unacceptable. This was an at-risk child the entire time. And not one adult cared.

The boy also has a dog 🥺 whom arrives at the right time to give him comfort.

There’s a layer of magic to the story too, with the boy seeing woods and ancient bison — basically him coping with his father’s erratic behaviour. When things are going wrong, he feels wolves. I always love this sort of element to a book, raw and dark and aching.

The illustrations are also beautiful! The style so perfectly complimented the tale, wintery with melting edges and dark colours. Totally maintain my belief that all books should be illustrated!!!

The only thing that didn’t click with me (personal preference) is that it was very slow and I felt like the narrator was worried the audience would drift so kept spoiling the book himself?! The boy would start off giving you a HUGE piece of information that took the weight out of any revelations. It’s the style though. But you really know the ending by, um, reading page 1…

A gritty and rugged story of survival and neglect, of yearning to save a parent and trying to find language to process what’s happening. Amazingly illustrated and told with a layer of yearning.

Thank you to Walker Books Australia for the review-copy! Out June, 2021.

Boy lives in a caravan on his own in the woods. His dad, John, is in prison and promises to get out soon. All the boy needs to do is survive alone for a little while longer. But dark forces are circling – like the dangerous man in the Range Rover, who is looking for his stolen money. And then there are the ancient forces that have lain asleep in the woods for an age…
A darkly intense illustrated novel about survival, the natural world and the complex bond between father and son.

Goodreads | Book Depository | Booktopia | Walker Books

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas — The THUG Prequel Is Here!

12th Feb 2021 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 5 Comments

Concrete Rose is the highly anticipated prequel novel to the super-famous The Hate U Give!

I have to say, I am always so so curious when authors get to do sequels or prequels…flesh out their world and show us other sides to minor characters. This one is set in the ’90s and is about Starr’s dad as a 17-year-old. And — OH WOW — he was a disaster. But also I ached for Mav and all he went through and just the sheer weight of the burden left on his shoulders. He is still a kid through all of this, and he made so many thoughtless decisions, but the way he unpacks what it is to be a man makes for a story that will hit your heart hard.

I always really love Angie Thomas books. They are thoroughly worth their places of honour as permanent bestsellers. I think THUG and On the Come Up are my favourites, but Concrete Rose takes us on quite a different journey. It hits a lot of the themes Angie Thomas often writes about: life for Black teens, poverty, being in or around gangs, facing a world that is systematically built to crush them, everything from microagressions to vicious racism — and, so importantly, the joy of what life CAN and WILL be. There’s hope in these pages, as well as love and fierce pride over making a life for yourself no matter what the world throws at you.

Also it’s nice reading about a teen dad! I don’t think I’ve read a YA featuring a teen dad before. Mav ends up with near sole custody of his 3-month-old baby, Seven (omggg Seven 😭) and it’s so sad how it all happened, but like Mav is the BEST dad. He gets overwhelmed and has no idea what he’s doing. But he never, never does anything but love his son and want to be the best father. Of course there’s all the drama we know from THUG — Seven isn’t Mav’s girlfriend’s baby. And Mav’s expected to work, go to school, raise his kid, keep his head up in the gang he had to join for protection, and win back Lisa. It’s a lot. His overwhelm and heartbreak is really palpable on page. You LIVE this with him. And he’s just so proud of his kid, no matter what. He’s ashamed of himself at times, but never his baby. It’s really lovely.

The plot mostly is Mav learning to bloom in hard places. (Concrete !! Rose!!) It’s not super fast-paced, but there’s drama and angst and heartbreak and baby-shaped-poop-catastrophes. I whipped through it all in one day and that was nice 😪💛I will admit, Mav is quite sexist and I felt all the girls (Iesha and Lisa included) were barely developed. And NO ONE cut Mav slack?! Like the girls were so so harsh on him but…um 👀 they were not blameless. So that was frustrating.

It’s a story about Black boys learning what it is to be men — and the strength of vulnerability and love and being gentle. Another incredible read from an incredible author.

“Son, one of the biggest lies ever told is that black men don’t feel emotions. Guess it’s easier not to see us as human when you think we’re heartless. Fact of the matter is, we feel things. Hurt, pain, sadness, all of it. We got a right to show them feelings as much as anybody else.”

If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.
Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.
Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father.
Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.
When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can’t just walk away. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. He’ll have to figure out for himself what it really means to be a man.

Goodreads | Book Depository | Walker Books | Booktopia

Thanks to Walker Books AUS for the ARC!

The Mermaid, The Witch, And The Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall [Brilliant And Brutal!]

27th Aug 2020 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 8 Comments

This was just so brilliant and brutal, it will absolutely take you by the throat and not let go.

I was just not expecting to adore this book this much, and I’m so grateful it exists to grace our human eyes. It’s phenomenal. Definitely darker than YA usually dares to go, and yet so beautifully written. That contrast? I live for that kind of contrast.

both the world building and characters were incredible

Usually I find YA fantasy does one or the other, but we got both here? 🥺💛 My whole heart is aching. While I didn’t understand the full dynamics of the world (a lot happened off page, I felt) it was just so vast and dark and commanding. It also honed in to class separation, contrasting Evelyn’s life as nobility to Flora’s life literally in the muck and murder of the streets. Add in the chapters from Rake and the horror of a childhood where his town was taken over and colonised. (I wasn’t totally sure if the people groups were separated by fantasy-versions of our race, but the Empire was Japanese-fantasy inspired.)

would die for these characters!!

Well, for Flora and Evelyn!! The pirates on the other hand can go die by themselves!!! These aren’t your frolicsome robin-hood-esque pirates: these are marauding, evil, wickedness incarnate pirates. They murder, rape and pillage, and Flora is basically in a “cabin boy” (she goes by the name Florian) position along with her brother Alfie, because it was better than death on the streets.

The Dove is a ship that pretends to cart passengers to their destination, but halfway there, they stage an uprising and lock all their rich passengers in the brig and then sell them as slaves. It’s their running con. They also murder and drink mermaid blood as a kind of drug/alcohol.

Evelyn is the beautiful empire daughter, off to marry a rich unknown military husband. Flora is assigned to watch her so none of the men mess with her.

Together, they…💛💛💛😭😭 start feeling things. Their dynamic is teacher/student as Evelyn shows Flora how to read, and then they turn to friends, and then soft crushes, and then escapees and lovers. 🥺 They will ruin you with their soft, yearning love. They are each other’s safe place, but they also give each other this knowledge that they can be loved in this world that has always deemed them disgusting or unwanted.

“We don’t just read to imagine better lives. We read to be introduced to all kinds of lives. Any kind. Not just for ourselves, but for everyone around us. To understand others better. It’s escape, and it’s also a way to become more connected to everyone around you. There’s power in that, you know. In understanding. It’s like magic.”

Flora/Florian is Black and genderfluid (this is discussed on page!!), and mostly uses she/her pronouns though not always. Evelyn is Japanese (fantasy version) and maybe bisexual since she does crush on Flora as Florian too. Evelyn and Flora are so gentle together, challenging each other’s beliefs and privilege.

The story also has chapters by Rake (a pirate spy who secretly serves the Pirate Supreme and wants to take down the Dove and its twisted captain) and the Lady Aya and Genevieve who are also not who they seem. I actually liked their chapters too, because it rounded out the story and gave a lot more depth to the world. ALSO the Pirate Supreme is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns on page!! (Okay I am just SO EXCITED TO FINALLY READ AN UNAPOLOGETICALLY QUEER FANTASY.)

the story is…

Brutal, beautiful, gallant, tragic, hopeful. It’s literally got everything, including the witches and mermaids in the title! It does NOT spare you, but it won’t leave you gutted like poor gasping fish either (well, mostly 😌😙) The middle did get a bit slow though, and the witchy section confused me a bit, but honestly pfft @ my two braincells. I marched on and loved it.

But I will say that Alfie deserved way way better and I would cry for him. He was too soft for this world, and I ached that Flora sort of despised him for it. I would totally take a spin-off about Alfie!!

tl;dr list of why to read this

queer romance of softness and yearning
nonbinary and genderfluid rep
dark, despicable pirates
sea voyages and island stays
complex sibling relationship 🥺
that time Evelyn gets a gun and shoots someone and Flora just goes 😍😍😍

“I was aiming for his heart,” Evelyn admitted a little sheepishly.
Evelyn. Evelyn with a pistol! Flora felt a strange pride billowing in her heart. She wanted to take Evelyn in her arms and kiss her the way a pirate out to be kissed.

Overall, just this book is everything I want in a fantasy and it was exquisite and painful, dark and sewn with hope.

Thanks Walker Books AUS for the ARC! The Mermaid, The Witch, And the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall comes out Sept 2, 2020.

A desperate orphan turned pirate and a rebellious imperial daughter find a connection on the high seas in a world divided by colonialism and threaded with magic.
Aboard the pirate ship Dove, Flora the girl takes on the identity of Florian the man to earn the respect and protection of the crew. For Flora, former starving urchin, the brutal life of a pirate is about survival: don’t trust, don’t stick out, and don’t feel. But on this voyage, as the pirates prepare to sell their unsuspecting passengers into slavery, Flora is drawn to the Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, who is en route to a dreaded arranged marriage with her own casket in tow. Flora doesn’t expect to be taken under Evelyn’s wing, and Evelyn doesn’t expect to find such a deep bond with the pirate Florian.
Soon the unlikely pair set in motion a wild escape that will free a captured mermaid (coveted for her blood, which causes men to have visions and lose memories) and involve the mysterious Pirate Supreme, an opportunistic witch, and the all-encompassing Sea itself.

Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Publisher

do you like pirate or sea-themed books? any favourites? 👀 also tell me if you’ve read/want to read this one!

Burn by Patrick Ness [Ft. 1950s, Teen Assassin Cultists, and Dragons!!!]

7th May 2020 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 8 Comments

Ness books are always this exquisite mix of the unique, bizarre and heartfelt aching.

This one is set in the 1950s and it’s strange, so so strange, but honestly enthralling. The middle of the book left me utterly breathless. It’s one of those stories you cannot predict and I actually enjoy being left to the whims of an author instead of guessing how it’ll all turn out by the end (I read a lot, okay!!! I make a lot of accurate guesses!!)

I also have a giveaway going right now on Instagram if you want to enter!

The story looks like this:

it’s 1956, Sarah Dewhurst’s father’s farm is failing. She’s biracial and black and faces awful discrimination in her tiny backwards town of Frome (her best friend Jason is Japanese and treated even worse than she is) and she’s missing her dead mum and she’s worried this is it for her whole life. Farm. Pigs. Hiding that she loves Jason because it’ll just give racists more to harass them about. Oh and also? There are dragons. And it’s NORMAL. And there are jUST DRAGONS RANDOMLY. Also a teen assassin cultist who worships dragons. Also FBI people tracking down teen cultist because he’s about to murder someone. Also he’s headed for Frome. Also he’s soft and gay and his name is Malcolm — but is it? And Sarah’s dragon is Russian and sarcastic and non threatening — bUT IS IT??

So it seems like a quiet book, and it is…but it is also thoroughly wild. It’s the perfect read for people who like genre-smashers, the bizarre made normal, and introspective style of storytelling.

I didn’t even mention everything bizarre that goes on because you need the plot twists 😂 prepare ourselves to absorb.

I quite liked this book!

It took a bit of getting used to, and I’m not wholly sure what the message was apart from: war is bad, don’t be a warmonger. I really loved Malcolm, our cultist boy assassin, because he’s just such a dedicated dumbass and I loved his character arc stretching him and challenging him to think for himself. Sarah was so down-to-earth and sensible, the kind of character who you can rely on to be solid. The writing has this factual quality, but also it’s just so powerful and edged with whimsy. The whole book has a lot to say.

(It’s not my favourite Ness book, but a captivating one nevertheless!!)

This is a story of war and change, of teens who have been lied to or mistreated, and have left to search for their own truths.

It’s bizarre and enchanting and twisty, and incorporates high fantasy (prophecies! dragons!) into a more modern setting in such an intriguing way. I’ve not read anything quite like this. And if you’re sitting there like, “does this have REAL dragon content” well yes, yes it does. Kasimir is a sassy little smart alek, I adored every moment of his scaly calm wit and comebacks.

Thanks to Walker Books for the ARC! Burn by Patrick Ness is out now!

In 1956 Sarah Dewhurst’s father shocks her by hiring a dragon to work the farm. The dragon is a smaller blue rather than the traditional larger reds, though even the reds are now scarce. When the blue dragon, Kazimir, unexpectedly saves Sarah and her friend Jason Inagawa from the attentions of the racist police deputy, Kelby, everything changes. Sarah is part of a prophecy and she must escape the clutches of Malcolm, an assassin from a Believer Cell, the dragon-worshiping cult. When Sarah, Malcolm, and Kazimir eventually converge, they are thrown into another universe, where dragons seem never to have existed. Can they save this world and the one they left?

Goodreads | Walker Books | Book Depository

alright let’s talk DRAGONS — if your current read had dragons in it, would it help or wreck the plot?! and tell me if you’ve read any Patrick Ness books!

Chain Of Gold by Cassandra Clare [Super Hyped Book Is Here!!] + Giveaway

4th Mar 2020 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 6 Comments

There is so much I really admire about the Shadowhunter series.

And Cassandra Clare. 🥺💛 Having such a long-running series that spans centuries, with its own lore and histories and complex backstories — it’s all phenomenal and special. Plus these are fantasy books that actually have diverse rep, with queer and POC characters, which is how all fantasy books should be. Chain of Gold was a very hyped book for me. I mean, of course it was!! I’m so glad I had a chance to read it. Out of all the Shadowhunter books I’ve read so far, I think The Dark Artifices is my heart favourite. But I love just the concept of this world with its mix of biblical lore, demons and angels and wicked and lovely creatures.

✨Also stop by my Instagram page to enter the INTL giveaway!✨

Things To Look Forward To In This Book

➢ new brand of maliciously wicked demon
➢ Edwardian England setting!
➢ James literally shouting, “I LOVE TEA” so yes we know they’re British.
➢ the utterly stunning concept of girls in ballgowns with swords
➢ delightful amount of accepted and loved queer rep
➢ mysteries unravelling about Tessa’s demon heritage
➢ dark magic
➢ who quickly heroes turn to villains and vice versa

“Though it is entirely bad form to appear unannounced at teatime. There simply won’t be enough cake for everybody. The girls will have cake and the boys nothing. There is no other fair way to do it.”

This new series feels like a love letter to all who really adored Will, Tess and Jem in The Infernal Devices series.

They don’t star here, but this is the series about the next generation, aka, their children! Will and Tessa’s kids are James and Lucie, two of the main characters. Then we have the kids of Gabriel and Gideon Lightwood, and of course more Fairchilds and Carstairs. There are…stacks of characters. 😂 And the Shadowhunter world in London feels oddly at peace, so the kids have grown up picnicking and going to school instead of in a warzone. It’s got a lot of historical-fiction flair too, where the women are proper and scandals are horrific and it’s all about “protect your family name” while most everyone suffers under invisible duties.

[characters]

I always accidentally fall in love with the secondary characters the most in Shadowhunter books! 😂 I did struggle telling all these characters apart, and couldn’t actually tell you which kid belonged to which family. I feel like all the character introductions were done in Ghosts of the Shadow Market, which I read but don’t remember much of? I expected CoG to flesh everyone out and make them dimensional and explosive (like TDA!!) but I hesitantly say I felt the characters stuck to their one descriptor and didn’t expand. Like Lucie was a dramatic novelist (relatable tho), James could step into hell realms, Matthew was a drunk, Alister was a misunderstood villain, Cordelia had a sword, etc. etc. And it was hard when the original TID gang named their kids all after each other…ahhh too man Jameses.

So as much as I wanted to love everyone, I felt James, Lucie, Cordelia, and Matthew weren’t very dynamic. I fell IN LOVE with Anna (the butch lesbian who were suits, seduced women, and was just exceptionally epic) and I wanted more Alister (the stressed secret gay) and I missed that Magnus wasn’t in it more! Jesse Blackthorn intrigued the heck out of me. I want more of him. These side-characters were so vivid, flawed, and troubled. My heart!

[the story it told]

I was super intrigued how this one was about demons attacking Shadowhunters, but specifically. It was all insidious and they uncovered a tricky plot. Maybe the ending felt easy, but I think that’s because there’s way WAY more coming. And I love the darkness behind the intentions.

“They need a muse,” said Anna. “Someone to be inspired by. Someone to know their secrets. Would you like to be a muse?”
“No,” said Cordelia. “I would like to be a hero.”

It’s always a delight to be back in the Shadowhunter world.

I think this one will totally delight fans of TID. The book is full of loving detail, and paints a sweeping and vast world that mixes magic with history. I love seeing series going strong and far. I think, as someone who didn’t really click with TID as much as TMI and TDA, I liked reading this but I’m secretly hanging out for Wicked Powers like nothing else. 😍

Thanks so much to Walker Books for the ARC! Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1) by Cassandra Clare is published March 3rd. 2020.

Goodreads | Book Depository | Walker Books

Welcome to Edwardian London, a time of electric lights and long shadows, the celebration of artistic beauty and the wild pursuit of pleasure, with demons waiting in the dark. For years there has been peace in the Shadowhunter world. James and Lucie Herondale, children of the famous Will and Tessa, have grown up in an idyll with their loving friends and family, listening to stories of good defeating evil and love conquering all. But everything changes when the Blackthorn and Carstairs families come to London…and so does a remorseless and inescapable plague.
James Herondale longs for a great love, and thinks he has found it in the beautiful, mysterious Grace Blackthorn. Cordelia Carstairs is desperate to become a hero, save her family from ruin, and keep her secret love for James hidden. When disaster strikes the Shadowhunters, James, Cordelia and their friends are plunged into a wild adventure which will reveal dark and incredible powers, and the true cruel price of being a hero…and falling in love.

tell me your favourite shadowhunter series and characters!! do you have any long-running series you adore?

Arc of Scythe (Whole Trilogy Review!) By Neal Shusterman [Ft. Murder And Loveable AIs]

22nd Dec 2019 by C.G. @ Paper Fury 5 Comments

I finally finished up the Arc of Scythe trilogy today — ending with the massive finale: The Toll!

2019 has been such a year for epic finales, which seems fitting: end of a decade, END OF OUR EMOTIONS!!!! I have reviewed the first two books before, but I thought I’d walk us through my feelings on the whole trilogy.🤗I’ve read quite a few Shusterman books, and I’m pleased I finished up this trilogy although I think my favourites of his collection are Unwind, Dry, Bruiser, and Challenger Deep!

“Therein lies the paradox of the profession,” Faraday said. “Those who wish to have the job should not have it…and those who would most refuse to kill are the only ones who should.”

✨no spoilers, hopefully!! but I am talking about the 3rd book will inadvertently give hints about the first two, so you’ve been warned!✨

Scythe | Goodreads

The first book is definitely my favourite of the trilogy. It introduces us to a perfect world, where no one dies…unless they’re gleaned strategically by scythes, who keep the population balanced. Citra and Rowan are taken on as apprentices and they have to learn to kill. For a good cause. Failure equals their lives forfeit. Basically it’s a utopia, with rotten threads under the surface. Those kind of narratives, I LOVE, because there’s so much intrigue and mystery. Also Schusterman has such a wonderful writing style. You just get swept up in it and — boom — next thing you know, you’ve read 4 of his books already and you’re thinking too much and you’ve named your firstborn fish THUNDERHEAD.

Citra and Rowan were the reason I got invested. They’re good kids: wholesome, a little snarky, and I loved their friendship. Also PS. the entire series is really focused on friendship over romance!

Thunderhead | Goodreads

This one really amped up the stakes and it was POWERFUL. This was intense and full of plot twists and politics and muRDeR. The actual plot of this one is kind of slow, but very thoughtful. I definitely enjoyed it, although it was super long, so there were a ton of scenes here thought I wished were more concise. However, I really loved how twisty and schemey everything turned out?! Citra is over here doing the political side of the scythedom and Rowan is over there just murdering bad scythes like a righteous angel of death. Gotta stan our child-disaster-scythes.

But this was when I really started to love the Thunderhead (hi title of the book!). He reminds me of AIDAN in Illuminae (less murdery though and more chill) and I love how it was everyone’s caring mother, but also calmly ordered deaths. The Thunderhead was the mum-friend who also would maybe stab you a little.

And this one? Left you internally screaming over the cliffhanger.

The Toll | Goodreads

So in a well-ordered universe I would’ve reread the first two before picking up the finale, but I had no time and while I’ve liked the series very well, it hasn’t sparked me into an exploding Christmas tree lightbulb of infatuation. I DO feel a bit bad about that. So I went in feeling a bit lost…and remained lost for 90% of the book. I fully admire how politically applicable this series is, and how the story is clever and intricate and very very intelligent.

But it’s really plot-driven. Rowan and Citra were barely in it, and I just wasn’t invested. The storyline is about scythes and the world falling and how the Thunderhand had a plan of clever subterfuge to save them all. But we dodged from so many narratives (from a lot of people I don’t care about oooops), that I couldn’t feel locked into the story. And at 600pgs with Rowan and Citra maybe gracing about 50pgs all up? It lost me. (I still loooove the Thunderhead and ship it and Greyson.🥺)

For me, the finale finished up as something I admire as an intelligent pice of art, even if it wasn’t my favourite storytelling style. Scythe is my pick of the three!

| what do you think? |

have you finished any series this year??? have you been reading this one? tell me your thoughts!!

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