Shortlisted for the YA Book Prize 2024
Girl, Goddess, Queen is a feminist, fierce and fresh YA fantasy retelling of the classic Greek myth of Hades and Persephone with a hefty dose of steamy romance. Fitzgerald’s reimagining shifts the power dynamic and repositions Persephone as a heroine with agency to control her own narrative, with extraordinarily fun results. View Full Review
If ignorance is bliss, then stupidity must be orgasmic.
Brookmyre is one of those annoying authors who can turn his hand to almost anything. He’s written psychological thrillers, police procedurals, a crime novel set in space and his forthcoming book The Cracked Mirror is a frankly mind-blowing detective novel like no other you will ever read. It’s in his award-winning debut novel though, that his genius as a satirist was first showcased. Brookmyre is a man who has funny bones (I’ve seen him bring the house down at the Comedy Store) but as a ... View Full Review
All this happened, more or less.
Comedy has sometimes between defined as ‘tragedy plus time’ and this is nowhere better illustrated than in Vonnegut’s 1969 classic. In the book for which he will be best remembered, Vonnegut processes his own experience as an American serviceman during the fire-bombing of Dresden, using mordant wit (and aliens) to examine one of the most senseless and tragic acts of war in modern times. Billy Pilgrim is ‘unstuck’ in time, and the dark humour with which his absurdist, time-travelling adventures are infused make this a captivating read. It’... View Full Review
This is a very special series for pony-mad 7+ year olds from one of the best known riders competing today. Each book is not just a great story, but also full of expert advice that readers will pick up along the way.
Pippa had the idea for an ongoing story about Tilly’s family from the beginning. Though Tilly owes her appearance in part to a friend of Pippa’s, the riding champion admits she has more than a passing resemblance to her lead character. Though readers will learn a lot about horse care from the stories, at the ... View Full Review
Trish Hinde’s wants the lasting message of her memoir to be that secrets are never a good thing.
She spent her childhood and much of her adult life not revealing her worst secret: that her father had sexually abused and raped her on multiple occasions. He told her to keep it a secret, and she listened to him.
In Not My Fault, which she wrote with Ann Cusack, Hinde details the horror of her father’s actions, but also the chaotic home life that went with it. One of six siblings, Hinde recounts the food shortages, ... View Full Review
Here at LoveReading we have a penchant for titles that give a much-needed voice to the overlooked characters in the classics, Percival Everett’s James is a powerful retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved Jim. When he overhears that he is about to be sold to a new owner and separated from his wife and daughter, Jim decides to hide on Jackson’s Island until he can formulate a plan. From the long shadow cast by Huck Finn, Jim emerges to reclaim his voice in this brutal, brilliant and enthralling story. ... View Full Review
Bestselling author and Great British Bake Off winner Nancy Birtwhistle is on hand with helpful advice on how to run a home on a budget, with solutions that don't cost the earth. Literally, these environmentally friendly hints and tips cover everything from how to remove mould safely to healthy, tasty and cheap meals with your trusty microwave.
Building on the hints and tips that already made her popular with her readers and on social media, this is a vital guide for anyone looking to use 2024 to budget more effectively while being eco friendly. View Full Review
Sparkle’s Story by Louise Allen is the tale of a foster child, Sparkle, who contends with both her tragic history while trying to figure out her gender identity and sexual orientation.
A struggling foster child is not a novel experience to Allen, who has fostered many children through the years. She, too, is the product of the foster system and so has a unique understanding of the problems these children face. She has used this experience to write five books in the “Thrown Away Children” series, along with Theresa McEvoy. Sparkle’s story is ... View Full Review
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is the first bestselling book in Rick Riordan's phenomenally successful Percy Jackson series - now with a new cover look. Half boy. Half God. ALL Hero.
Half Boy, Half God, All Hero, that’s Percy Jackson, but he didn’t choose or want to be a half-blood or the son of a Greek god. Percy was just a normal kid until he accidentally vaporised his maths teacher. Now Percy spends his time fighting with swords, battling monsters with his friends and generally trying to stay alive.
In this, the first Percy Jackson ... View Full Review
Richly imagined and punchy with action, adventure, and mystery, this fabulous read dips into old world magic, and an interesting romance. Desperate for answers, 19-year-old Inez Olivera travels to Egypt after the deaths of her parents in 1884. If I hadn’t previously known this was a young adult novel I might not have realised, so this is wonderfully accessible for older adults too. That is the beauty of really well-written YA fiction, that it isn’t obviously aimed at an age range, and this is one of the reasons I’ve chosen What the River Knows as ... View Full Review
A box set of the explosive Arc of a Scythe series by Neal Shusterman, including paperback editions of Scythe, Thunderhead and The Toll presented in a stylish slipcase.
A Review for the first in the series, Scythe;
Wow! This was a gripping, thought-provoking read. Totally compelling, Scythe is a dark, original take on the ultimate power – the power over life and death.
Death and disease have been eradicated and life can continue quietly without fear of death or illness. Revival centres are on hand if you suffer an accident and even a fall from a thirty-nine-storey building will simply ... View Full Review
Sarah J Maas's Throne of Glass fantasy series, first published in 2012, has been a worldwide sensation. The saga follows 18 year old assassin, Celaena; beautiful but deadly and destined for greatness but only if she can free herself from the life sentence she's serving. Fast-paced and epic in stature this is not to be missed and you can now get all the books in the series in this spectacular box set. View Full Review
