Mix & Match 8

Start with making yourself a G&T, get out your favourite gin and pour a generous measure. Top with tonic then garnish to suit your mood.  You can try grapefruit, rosemary or be more adventurous with strawberry and black pepper.  You could even just stick with a classic slice of lime. I've gone for some juniper berries to bring out the flavour of the gin. Once you've decided what you're drinking choose a book to go with it!

Monsters in the Mirror - A.J. Hartley

Darwen has just moved to Atlanta to live with  his aunt and feels completely out of place. When a strange, bat-like creature catches his eye in a shopping mall, he is led to the mysterious and wonderful Mr Octavius Peregrine's Reflectory Emporium where he discovers there are other worlds behind the mirror.

The gorgeous holographic cover and the contents pages immediately hint at a very magical book. The book is full of so many weird creatures, like Scrobblers, terrifying apelike giants on top of huge motorbikes, and Gnashers, monsters with no head but a horrible mouth in their chest and lots of shark-like teeth. Of course there are also lovely creatures like Moth, who befriends Darwen. I also loved that there was a magical shop with a mysterious shopkeeper, this is one of my favourite elements in fantasy!

I absolutely devoured this book. I was a bit daunted by the size at first but it actually reads pretty fast. This is the first of a trilogy but thankfully there is no big cliffhanger to worry about.

The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides 

Alicia is found standing over the husband's body, covered in blood and holding a gun. From that moment she refuses to speak, not even to protest her own innocence, and everyone is convinced she's guilty. But Theo, a psychotherapist, believes there may be more to the story and is determined to get through to Alicia and cure her.

Fast paced and easy to read, this kept me reading all the way through and had a very clever twist which I didn't guess.

Venom - Bex Hogan

Marianne finally feels like she is making progress. She will marry prince Torin and the King has agreed that he will finally step down and let them rule after the wedding. Of course things never go to plan and when there's an attempt on Torin's life, she finds herself on the run again.

She decides her only option is to learn more about the magic that is supposed to be in her veins. Only as a mage will she truly be able to fight and save the islands and her people. But instead of finding help, she finds more people in need of her help. Marianne faces so many difficult decisions, none seem right and all lead to some kind of pain and heartbreak. The word sacrifice keeps coming up, following her around wherever she goes.

The ending of this book literally left me breathless! I don't know how I'm supposed to wait a year for Vulture.

Cursed Luck - Kelley Armstrong

As a curse weaver, Kennedy specialises in un-hexing magically cursed items, so when Aiden comes to her for help, she's understandable suspicious of his motives. The job gets bigger and more complicated as siblings are kidnapped and ever more powerful magical characters are involved.

This was an intriguing world of curse-breakers. I love that there were hints of Greek Mythology at the start which then grew to much more and brought in other mythologies too, all with quite a different take than usual. Kennedy is descended from Arae, mythological spirits of curse, Aidan may or may not be descended from Leprechauns! The way curses are described is wonderful. Kennedy sees them like golden threads weaved together for untangling, while others hear it like music or see it as a mathematical problem.

It also has what might just be my favourite line in a book, ever:

“Does he have a magical power?”

“He doesn’t need one.... He’s a librarian.”

I read a free version of the book which was posted in chapters online before editing so the final version may be a bit different.

Rumblestar - Abi Elphinstone 

Caspar never does anything unless its on his To Do list. There's no way he could ever be prepared for ending up in the magical kingdom of Rumblestar, but that's exactly what happens when he escapes from a bully by hiding in a grandfather clock. Another thing he doesn't do is have friends, which is absolutely fine by Utterley Thankless, the strange girl he meets, as she doesn't either. However, the evil Harpy Morg is hell-bent on destroying both their worlds and the two find themselves working together to save their homes.

I loved listening to this, the narrator was wonderful and gave the book a real storytelling quality. It's all so magical, with Drizzle Hags making rain marvels, places like Shiverbark Forest where snow marvels are conjured and Arlo the miniature dragon who I adored, he is the best character. The book had elements of Narnia and the Magic Faraway tree. I would love to read more about the Unmapped Kingdoms and will definitely be picking up more of Abi Elphinstone's books.

The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker - Lauren James

Harriet doesn't bother with all the signs saying Danger of Electrocution, or Unstable Structure. She knows this is the perfect place to take photos for her photography project and a bit of danger isn't going to stop her. She's bound to get a good grade with all the amazingly atmospheric photos she's taken. She has so many big plans for her life but unfortunately life has different ideas for her.

This was a bit of a difficult book for me to review. I enjoyed The Quiet at the End of the World and really loved The Loneliest Girl in the Universe so of course couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. 

As usual the author's writing is very good and I loved the way you get to know all the characters and their perspectives, as well as Harriet. This is good because as the book progresses I liked Harriet less and less, and I cared less about her too. Usually I don't enjoy a book that much if I'm not invested in the main character, but thanks to the writing and the other characters I kept with it.

There's an unidentified narrator throughout the book which adds a wonderful mysterious element. Are they orchestrating the whole thing or just watching? I had my suspicions of who this could be though you don't find out till nearer the end. There are lots more surprising twists too!