Tag: #Family

Looking for Lucie by Amanda Addison – A Spotlight Post

On By @f33lthesunIn Young AdultLeave a comment
Cover by Jet Purdie

I am shining a spotlight on the wonderful Looking for Lucie by Amanda Addison, to celebrate its publication in the US on October 1st 2024.

I really enjoyed reading this when it came out earlier this year in the UK and reviewed it here.

Book Info

Genre: Contemporary YA

Length: 272 pages

Published: April 2024 in UK and Oct 1st 2024 in US

Goodreads 

StoryGraph

Amazon UK 

Amazon US

Or buy it from your local independent bookshop, which is my preferred option.

Blurb

Looking for Lucie is a contemporary YA novel that explores identity, self-discovery, and newfound friendship as an 18-year-old girl sets out to uncover her ethnic heritage and family history.

It’s a question every brown girl in a white-washed town is familiar with, and one that Lucie has never been able to answer.

All she knows is that her mother is white, she’s never met her father, and she looks nothing like the rest of her family. She can’t even talk about it because everyone says it shouldn’t matter!

Well, it matters to Lucie and—with her new friend Nav, who knows exactly who he is—she’s determined to find some answers.

What do you do when you question your entire existence? You do a DNA test.

About the Author

Amanda Addison is an award-winning author of books for adults and children. Her writing has been translated into German, Greek, Italian and Ukrainian. Her picture book, Boundless Sky, was nominated for The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal, and her YA novel, Looking for Lucie, was listed for the Searchlight Writing Novel Opening Award. A graduate of Chelsea school of Art, her writing and artwork are inspired by travel, textiles, and the natural world. Amanda holds an MA in Writing the Visual and lectures in Art & Design and has also led workshops in Creative Writing at the National Centre for Writing. Amanda lives in Norfolk, UK, with her family.

Her writing includes flash fiction, short stories, picture books and novels. She explores themes of home and belonging, and enjoys using the juxtaposition of rural and city life. Her characters are often artists or scientists, as their curiosity about the world around them are two sides to the same coin, and the exploration of art and science can give us meaning and purpose in life with its infinite avenues of discovery. Amanda’s debut YA novel, Looking for Lucie, Neem Tree Press 2024, explores the above. It is a contemporary story of identity, self-discovery, and newfound friendship. Lucie, an 18-year-old art student sets out to uncover her ethnic heritage and family history with her new scientist friend Nav. Together they unravel family secrets.

Amanda believes in the power of stories as a window on the world, and a mirror to better see ourselves and is passionate about stories which are empowering and inclusive. When not writing she can be found swimming in the North Sea or running in the countryside, and that is when she gets some of her best ideas!

Please look out for other spotlights and reviews on this tour to celebrate the US release of Looking for Lucie.

Flightless Falcon by James Charles Smith

On By @f33lthesunIn AdultLeave a comment

Blurb

In this Vietnam-era coming of age novel, a young man abandons military life and becomes an eyewitness to America’s deep divisions over the war.

Adrift and alone in 1969 America, a young man takes to the road.

When Sam Roberts resigns from the Air Force Academy, his father is furious.
His mother is understanding but offers little support. All Sam knows is he doesn’t believe in the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War and he can’t be part of it any longer.

Cut loose from a life he once believed in and the woman he once loved, Sam hitchhikes across the country in search of himself. As a passenger in the countless cars who stop to offer rides, he encounters people from all walks of life: Hispanic youths on their way to a quinceañera, retired WWII veterans with surprisingly different perspectives on the war, even a hippie who just left the military himself. His journey is an eye-opening tour through the polarized politics of 1960s America, a transporting exchange of ideas that sends Sam on his way to becoming the man he’s meant to be.

Review

Flightless Falcon is the story of Sam, just resigned from being a cadet in the Air Force Academy, making his way back home to his parents by hitchhiking.

His road trip is a much needed space for his head to work out what he actually wants from life. He knows what he doesn’t want, that much is clear.

His internal struggle is as much to do with his own feelings as it is to do with managing the feelings of others, especially his father.

During his journey he is picked up by a variety of people, reflecting the scenes and events happening across America at the time. This is also highlighted in the excellent soundtrack of his journey.

By conversing, and in some cases staying a while, with the people he travels with, they give Sam a lot to think about.

The author breaks up Sam’s homeward journey with stories from Sam’s past, both at the academy and his school days, which add perspective to how Sam found himself on the road.

The journey along with Sam is interesting and reflective, and the author has done a good job of bringing the turmoil of the time back to life, alongside Sam’s personal journey to find himself.

Thanks to the publisher, Brown Books, and The Write Reads for the eARC for the purposes of the review for this blog tour.

Calm by SJ Baker

On By @f33lthesunIn Young Adult2 Comments

Blurb

In this enthralling dystopian YA thriller where emotions become weapons, the fight for humanity’s true essence takes centre stage.

In a near-future Britain, society’s calm facade conceals a sinister truth: the state maintains its control by meddling with the nation’s water supply. The result? A population lulled into apathy. Lulled, apart from a courageous few known as the Resistors.

New Resistor Owyn joins lifelong Resistor Tiegan in a fierce quest for freedom. Spurred on by the promise of a mass Resistance, they ignite a chain of events that shakes the foundations of Britain’s oppressive regime.

One thing is clear: the price of freedom is higher than they ever imagined.

Review

“There’s a rumour on the corner
But it’s always been denied
‘Cause they don’t want you any wiser
You’re just toeing the party line”.

Word of Mouth – Mike and the Mechanics

“Swear allegiance to the flag
Whatever flag they offer
Never hint at what you really feel”

Silent Running – Mike and the Mechanics

The lyrics in both these songs came to mind as I read Calm.

In order to quell ongoing violence and disturbances across Britain, the government add chemicals to the water to calm the population, removing any emotional responses the people may have.

Owyn lost his parents and was brought up in a boarding school, knowing nothing else but compliance. However his resistance to the drugs starts to wear off.

Tiegan lives with her family but has a resistance to the drugs in the water. To keep her safe, her parents train her to keep her face calm and not react to anything emotionally.

Calm is told as dual perspective, alternating Owyn and Tiegan’s stories. It follows them as they end up on the run, being hunted by the Servants, being helped by other resistors and some others from the more organised Resistance. As they both separately head north to where they believe there is a Resistance stronghold, we follow their fight for survival.

As well as a lack of knowledge of anything beyond his well controlled boarding school experience and the usual teenage hormones to deal with, the sudden arrival of ALL the emotions is a lot for Owyn to deal with. Anger, betrayal, grief, jealousy, confusion, shame and hate swirl inside his brain whilst he attempts to build trust in others on the run.

The story is riveting, full of well crafted characters and action sequences. I am full of hope for a sequel…please!

Thank you to Neem Tree Press and @The_WriteReads for the eARC to read and review for this blog tour. Look out for all the other blogs too.

Generations by Noam Josephides

On By @f33lthesunIn Young AdultLeave a comment
Cover design by Daniel Kutz

Blurb

For eight generations, the Thetis has been a peaceful haven, carrying the last remnants of humanity on a journey to resettle on a new planet. Nearing its final destination, Thetis is seemingly a Utopia: egalitarian, tolerant and united. A society ready for a new beginning.

But when a strange extortion attempt targets the ship’s leader, that idyllic façade begins to crack. And when SANDRINE LIET, the introvert Archivist tasked with investigating the case starts poking around – the prime suspect mysteriously disappears.

Nobody disappears on the Thetis.

Sandrine is pulled into a web of intrigue and deception, sending her on a direct collision course with the most powerful people on the Thetis. Every step she takes, her suspicions of a grand and far-reaching conspiracy grow – as are the personal consequences for her future if she keeps pursuing the investigation.

Review

What a feisty character Sandrine is. She has spent most of her life being socially awkward and lonely but when she discovers some small details that make her question everything and almost everyone around her, boy does her moral compass and bravery come to the fore.

The world created on the spacecraft Thetis is well developed by the author. Life on board appears to be going as planned on this multi generational journey from a destroyed Earth to a new planet to start again. The current generations on board never knew life on earth and the chances are none of them will live long enough to know any other life. Some question the point of it all, a life lived purely on a spacecraft, but the thought of their genetic line carrying on and the egalitarian society planned for and worked at means no one wants for anything and there is no “them and us”. Is that true though?

Sandrine, as head archivist, has access to the full history of the programme and when something makes her question it, she has to try to get to the bottom of it all without the Primo and his staff finding out. Not easy when everyone is electronically tracked every minute of every day.

I really enjoyed this SciFi political noir, with a breathtaking end sequence.

Thanks to the author and @The_WriteReads for an ARC to allow me to write this review as part of the blog tour.

A Rose Among Thorns by Ash Fitzsimmons

On By @f33lthesunIn Fantasy, Young AdultLeave a comment

Blurb

No one said anything about an attack vine.

Rose Thorn should never be left unsupervised around plants. Potted things tend to die around her as if on principle. But when her great-aunt calls and asks Rose to watch her garden nursery for a few days, Rose can hardly say no. After all, Aunt Lily is the closest thing Rose has to a grandmother—and the only family she has left—so Rose doesn’t mind driving out to her tiny mountain town to look after the place.

Aunt Lily never mentioned anything about an inspection, however.

Rose is taken aback when an agent from an organization she’s never heard of arrives and panics to find Aunt Lily missing. As it turns out, Aunt Lily hasn’t been entirely straight with Rose. She’s not visiting a sick friend—she’s in danger and on the run. She keeps a hidden greenhouse on the property in which she grows highly regulated magical plants. And she’s an elf…as was Rose’s grandfather.

Though stunned to witness magic at work and shocked that no one ever divulged the family secret, Rose refuses to abandon the nursery until her great-aunt is safely home. But as she and the agent, now awkward housemates, try to keep up their cover story and find the missing grower, they realize that whatever led to Aunt Lily’s disappearance might not be the only magical crime in progress.

And while Rose has no green thumb, another talent of hers may be budding…

Review

I wasn’t sure what to expect, what I read was an enjoyable, well crafted urban fantasy.

Although set in a seemingly normal small town, the setting expands liminally to include a greenhouse full of weird plants that are ingredients for magical potions. Sally, one of those plants, is a fabulous creation and character in their own right.

The two main characters, Rose (human) and Yven (elf), are soon embroiled in magical mayhem and having to hurry to work out where Aunt Lily is and how two local cops fit into the grand scheme of what is going on. As their problem solving skills are tested and their relationship develops, they start to trust each other more, or in Yven’s case, he realises Rose does not take no for an answer and is very determined to find her Aunt.

As the first book in a series, this does an excellent job of introducing the world and characters, both human and non human, as well as setting us readers up for more adventures and intrigue. I look forward to Rose and Yven’s next storyline, and hopefully meeting Sally again. A thoroughly deserved 2nd place in the BBNYA 2023 Awards.

The Legendary Mo Seto by A.Y. Chan

On By @f33lthesunIn Children KS21 Comment
Cover by Amber Ren (@AmberRenArt)

Blurb

A fast-paced, high-kicking debut that’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets Stand Up, Yumi Chung as a young taekwondo artist uses an ancient book to help save her dreams—and her father.

Twelve-year-old Modesty “Mo” Seto dreams of being a taekwondo champion. Even though her mom disapproves, Mo can always count on her dad, who is her number one fan and biggest supporter. Lately, Mo has been on a losing streak, and it doesn’t help that she keeps losing to her archnemesis, Dax, who’s much bigger than her. If only she were faster, stronger, not so petite. Mo can’t even lean on her dad like usual with how distracted he’s been lately.

When Mo learns about the chance to audition to star alongside her idol and legendary martial artist and movie star Cody Kwok, she knows this her chance to prove to her dad, to the world, and to herself that she can compete with anyone, no matter her size. Unfortunately, Dax is auditioning, too. As Mo and her nemesis progress to callbacks, someone attempts to sabotage the movie set and Mo’s dad disappears—and both events seem linked to a mysterious book, the Book of Joy.

Review

“Though she be but little she is fierce” and “never meet your heroes” sum this book up perfectly.

Mo has to use all her cunning and creativity when not only is her father mysteriously AWOL but accidents seem to follow her around.

When she finds an ancient book that she cannot understand but knows links her family to an ancient discipline she so wants to understand and practice, she has to put her feelings of inadequacy due to her lack of height as well as her disappointment at the less than heroic leading man aside and prove to everyone around her that she has what it takes to solve the mysteries going on around her.

The themes of family, inner strength and self belief drive this pacey MG thriller, with its varied cast of characters and a feisty, gritty, determined, rule-busting protagonist.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and @The_WriteReads for the eARC in exchange for this review on the blog tour.

Scareground by Angela Kecojevic

On By @f33lthesunIn Upper Key Stage 2+Leave a comment

Today I am shining a spotlight on the brilliant Scareground, for its release in America. I reviewed it here when it was originally published in the UK in August 2023.

Blurb

Roll up, roll up, the Scareground is in town!

Twelve-year-old Nancy Crumpet lives above a bakery and her life is a delightful mix of flour, salt, and love. Yet her mind is brimming with questions no one can answer: Why did her birth parents disappear? Why can she speak with the sky? And why must she keep her mysterious birthmark hidden?

Everything is about to change when the Scareground returns to Greenwich. Nancy is convinced it holds the answers to her parents’ disappearance. Nancy and her best friend Arthur Green meet the fair’s spooky owner, Skelter, and discover a world full of dark magic and mystery. Nancy must confront her greatest fears to get to the truth. But is she ready for all the secrets the Scareground will reveal?

About the Author

Angela Kecojevic is a senior librarian, author and creative writing tutor. She has written for the Oxford Reading Tree programme and the multi-award-winning adventure park Hobbledown where her characters can be seen walking around, something she still finds incredibly charming! She is a member of the Climate Writers Fiction League, a group of international authors who use climate issues in their work. Angela lives in the city of Oxford with her family.

Do look out for the other blog reviews on this @The_WriteReads / Neem Tree Press blog tour.

Terra Electrica by Antonia Maxwell

On By @f33lthesunIn Upper Key Stage 2+1 Comment
Cover by Jet Purdie

Blurb

The last ice cap has melted, and the world is on the brink of collapse. A deadly force—Terra Electrica—has been unleashed. It feeds on electricity. It is infecting civilization.

In this chaotic, rapidly changing reality, 12-year-old Mani has lost her family and community to the Terra Electrica. Armed only with some ancestral wisdom and a powerful, ancient wooden mask she was never meant to inherit so soon, she suddenly finds herself responsible for the fate of the world.

Can Mani piece everything together and harness her newfound powers in time to save humanity?

Review

Mani’s father has left her in a cave whilst he goes to find food. He has not returned a month later so she is forced to leave the cave to find something to eat and look for him. She comes across the research centre and one scientist but she has been told they are the enemy and dangerous. What should she do?

She decides she has to interact with the scientist to survive. He has food and shelter. She then discovers she is infected by the deadly force that has killed so many, including her mother. Why is she not ill, or dead? Can she trust the scientist who says he will help her find her father or is his objective much more sinister?

Mani decides to try on the mask she has brought with her. Why did she feel she had to bring it? It is not essential to her survival. Or is it? When she puts it on, she has visions and meets some spirit animals who try to guide her. Frustratingly for Mani, they are not good at answering her direct questions but make her ask even more questions and give her lots to think about. She has a lot to learn about herself and the world.

She uses all her understanding of her people’s stories and traditions to help her work out what she needs to do.

Antonia’s writing carries powerful messages. There is power in stories, beliefs and traditions handed down through generations but there are also those who are selfish and/or greedy and would try to gain personally from something that could help everyone. However, there is always hope.

Thank you to Neem Tree Press and @The_WriteReads for the ARC in exchange for this review.

Storm Child by Ele Fountain

On By @f33lthesunIn Upper KS2+Leave a comment

Blurb

Maya’s life is about to be upended. After her dad’s fishing boat is ravaged by a relentless storm, Maya’s parents make the decision to start over-by moving to a tropical island. But making a change doesn’t always make a difference.

Far from her friends and her quiet seaside home where she spent all her time surfing, Maya is swept away by a storm much larger than herself. As Maya begins to realise that paradise is not always what it seems, can she bring her family back home again?

Review

I am a huge fan of Ele’s previous books so jumped at the chance to review Storm Child.

Maya’s family own a stately home and have their own beach, where Maya and her friends meet to surf and roast marshmallows. However they are struggling financially, so when her father loses his fishing boat to a storm their income goes with it.

Her parents decide that moving to a tropical paradise, following in her uncle’s footsteps, is the answer. Maya is not happy as she will be leaving behind everything she loves.

It soon becomes clear that despite their enthusiasm, her parents do not have a proper plan to earn a living, they end up trying different things and Maya becomes frustrated. She struggles with not being able to surf, her parents are not there for her as they are working all hours. This adds to her emotional overload at having to make a new start and try to make friends.

Maya meets Kalani, a local girl who hates tourists, and becomes more aware of how the expansion of tourism is harming the environment and the impact it has on the indigenous people, as well as animal and marine life.

When her stubbornness and poor decision making puts herself and Kalani in danger, Maya has to make a decision that will affect everyone. Will her parents agree with her?

Once again Ele has written an engaging story that also carries a strong message about the environment and the negative impact humans have on it, whilst giving us hope that positive action can be taken to negate this.

Thanks to @PushkinChildren for the ARC in exchange for this blog review.

The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon by Safinah Danish Elahi

On By @f33lthesunIn AdultLeave a comment

Blurb

Zohaib, Misha and Nadia believed they would be in each other’s lives forever. As children they played, argued, teased and loved one another. Yet nothing could have prepared them for the tragic turn of events one fateful afternoon in Karachi, Pakistan, when the divisions and differences between them are revealed.

Years later and they are still trying to piece their lives back together, still trying to make sense of what happened. Zohaib is living in London, haunted by the ghosts of the past. Nadia has escaped the household where she first met Misha and Zohaib but finds fate delivering her back to their door…

The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon is a beautifully rendered portrait of love, healing, and long-buried pain, digging deep into the nature of trauma and class division.

Review

I was intrigued by the title of this book, and it engaged me enough to want to read and review it, despite it not being my usual type of read. I am very glad I made that decision. Without spoilers, the title is part of something the father of Misha and Zohaib says to them when they are children, and relates perfectly to the character arcs of both Nadia and Zohaib.

It took me a few chapters to get my head round the format and story, by then I didn’t want to put it down.

Dealing with family, friendship, love, loss, grief and class, this story of the long lasting effects of a childhood trauma, told from multiple perspectives, will stay with me.

The story unfolds mainly via the three main characters, Nadia, Misha and Zohaib, and is set both in the present and 17 years earlier, when Nadia and Misha are about 8. These are interspersed with chapters from the point of view of several other family members which add effectively to the narrative.

We do not find out exactly what happened until the end of the book, but hints are drip fed throughout, whilst we hear about how the event affected those involved as they dealt with it…or not, in some cases.

Despite the themes of poverty vs privilege, domestic violence, mysogyny, grief and mental health issues, there is hope in this story.

The ending (not the reveal of the childhood trauma event, but where the characters are in their lives and relationships) leaves the reader with a lot to contemplate. It is not what I expected but is reflective of reality, in my opinion.

Thank you to Neem Tree Press and @The_WriteReads for a copy of the book for me to review as part of this blog tour.