The Cruel Prince - Holly Black

It is so wonderful to be back in Holly Black's faerie worlds. Probably the first faerie books I ever read as a young adult were her Tithe series. I bought the first one on holiday and immediately had to buy the rest of the trilogy, just in case I couldn't find them back home. They still have pride of place on my shelves.

But back to The Cruel Prince... This is such a twisty & scheming tale, set in a fascinating and thrilling world. I couldn't guess what was going to happen, it was captivating all the way through. The ending is satisfying but I was still left eagerly anticipating more.

As a young girl, Jude saw her parents killed by the man who has now become like a father to her, her twin sister, and her older half sister. All three girls were taken back with him to Faerie, where they grew up living like royalty, but Jude and Taryn are still treated as inferior for being human. Mocked and laughed at, despite their father's high position in the royal guard.

Vivi is half faerie but shuns the life and her father and can't wait for a chance to go back to the human world. Meanwhile, Jude can't resist the beauty and magic and longs for a place among the faeries. She knows that to fit in she has to become just like them, and to truly belong she must be even worse than them. She takes her lessons seriously and learns as much as possible about strategy, swordfighting, politics and deception from her adopted father. Using all her knowledge and cunning, she comes up with a treacherous and dangerous plan that could cost her everything if it goes wrong. And there are far too many ways it could go wrong.

I usually shudder at the thought of my favourite books being turned into movies but I think this one could actually be amazing and I look forward to seeing how it is done.

The blood red wine drunk by the faeries reminded me of mulled wine. There are plenty of places you can buy it at Christmas but it's fairly easy to make too. All you need is some red wine, cinnamon sticks, lemon or orange zest, star anise and cloves. Put everything in a pan and warm up gently without letting it boil. Add a little sugar to taste. For variations you can add some sloe gin or orange juice.

Here We Are Now - Jasmine Warga

Taliah has never known her father, but she suspects she knows who he is. After spending three years writing to him and getting no response, Julian Oliver, rock star, just shows up on her doorstep and wants to take her to meet the rest of her family. Through the book, Julian tells Tal his side of the story of his relationship with Lena, Tal's mother.

The Lena in Julian's stories seems very different to her mother and Tal finds it hard to reconcile the two sides but eventually realises everyone has multiple selves, including herself. She has always thought her mother and her best friend Harlow were enough for her, but while meeting various members of her extended family, Tal learns how to open up and grow.

I found the short descriptions of Jordan full of warmth and emotion. Even though they were so brief, the author managed to put a lot of feeling into them. However, the character development could have done with a lot more. For example, people kept telling Tal that she was too closed off but that just made me feel a bit defensive for her as there wasn't really much evidence of this. I loved the way the parents' story was told in installments by Julian, almost like a separate story within a story.

This book goes perfectly with a Rockstar Martini. Combine 1 shot of raspberry vodka with 1/2 shot each of Apple Sourz, blue curacao and lemon juice. Add a dash of sugar syrup and shake with ice. Pour into a martini glass garnished with pop rocks or sherbert.

The Summer of Impossible Things - Rowan Coleman

If you kept seeing things that no one else could see, you would probably assume you were ill. That's exactly what Luna thinks at first, until she manages to get some evidence, in the form of her mother's missing locket. With this small but significant thing, Luna proves to herself that she is not sick and there is far more going on. Luna can travel through time, to the days just before she was conceived. Now she has the chance to change everything and save her mother. But can she risk erasing herself?

Luna keeps going back and trying to make things right for her mother, her sister and her whole family, but things don't always work out as expected. Even when she thinks she has figured out what she needs to do, the results aren't what she hoped for and she is not willing to live with the unintended consequences. As she realises how far she may have to go, she also realises how much more she has to lose.

This book is so full of emotions and sensations that you can actually feel what Luna goes through and experiences. There is so much going on with the changing relationships between Luna and her family as well as her mother in the past and the other people she meets there. Every time she comes back to her own time, things are different and she has to learn to deal with the new situations. I really enjoyed the growing friendship between Luna and her mother in the past. Most of all I absolutely loved the last line of the book, but I won't spoil it for you!

I was so lucky to meet the author at a book club event. At the time I was about halfway through the book and got very excited when Rowan mentioned the exact bit of the book I had just read! Hearing her describe visiting the places in the book brought it all alive even more for me and the few titbits and teasers she mentioned made me want to get right back to reading!

As Luna means moon, I have made a Moonlight Cocktail. If you like the Aviation then you'll enjoy this slightly fruitier twist. Shake up 1 1/2 shots of gin, 3/4 shot triple sec, 1/2 shot creme de violette, 1/4 shot lemon juice and 1/4 shot lime juice. Strain into a flute and toast the moon.

The Truth and Lies of Ella Black - Emily Barr

I'm so glad I didn't have to wait too long for this after reading the sampler. I've been a huge fan of Emily Barr ever since reading The One Memory of Flora Banks so I jumped on the sampler and absolutely loved it. The rest of the book did not disappoint and I loved it just as much.

40 days until she dies. The start of the book sounds clear enough, but as you continue to see these mysterious numbers counting down you realise the meaning is not as simple as you expect.  Ella Black leads a privileged life with parents who will do anything for her. But they don't know she is hiding a secret and is not really the simple, nice girl she tries so hard to seem. When they pull her out of school for an unexpected trip to Rio, she finds out that everyone has secrets of their own and nothing about her life is as she thought.

Everything Ella goes through made me feel extremely grateful for all the simple things in life. My only slight criticism is that the explanation of Ella's secret at the end isn't very satisfying, I feel like it needed a bit more information and was almost glossed over with a fairly quick statement. Other than that, the book was well written and put you right in both Ella's and Bella's head.

Once again Emily Barr has written a wonderful character who is brave and strong but, like most people, doesn't realise her own strengths at first. Ella has to go through a lot of adventures to come to terms with herself but she comes out whole at the other end. Despite everything, Ella is a realistic character.

For Ella Black I have made the Black Raspberry Martini. Add 1 shot vanilla vodka, 1/2 shot each of Chambord, cranberry juice & lemon juice. Shake and pour into a martini glass.

The French Exchange Whale - Cal King

Cal King is full of the most brilliant book ideas, but unfortunately none of the publishers agree with him. Eventually someone suggested he create a book of his failed ideas, and here it is!

There's The Mummy's Nuclear Curse, which could definitely be made into an end of the world type of movie, and The Whenwolf, which is actually a very clever idea. Who wouldn't watch a TV series like Meme Street, where the internet-famous who want to escape their fame are put into a witness protection type scheme? I can never resist a sloth so the 100m Sloth is bound to be a winner. Advance warning, the last idea messes with your brain a little bit.

By the end you'll be desperate to find out why a werewolf would bite herself or how a hug might prevent Professor Evilution from turning evil. You'll definitely be hoping for more stories about the Models and the Tiny Penguins.

I found this book hilarious right from the start. There are fantastic illustrations accompanying the ideas and plenty of them sound perfectly plausible to me, or look like they could be made into comics at the very least.

A book like this definitely needs a punny cocktail. This is One Flew Over the Cosmo's Nest.

In a shaker, pour 1 1/2 shots of vodka, 1 shot of cranberry juice, 1/2 shot triple sec and 1/2 shot lime juice. Shake well with ice and strain into your glass. If you have a bird sitting around then that's the perfect garnish.