The Elephant in the Room - Holly Goldberg Sloan

Book Summary

It's been almost a year since Sila's mother travelled halfway around the world to Turkey, hoping to secure the immigration paperwork that would allow her to return to her family in the United States.

The long separation is almost impossible for Sila to withstand. But things change when Sila accompanies her father (who is a mechanic) outside their Oregon town to fix a truck. There, behind an enormous stone wall, she meets a grandfatherly man who only months before won the state lottery. Their new alliance leads to the rescue of a circus elephant named Veda, and then to a friendship with an unusual boy named Mateo, proving that comfort and hope come in the most unlikely of places.

A moving story of family separation and the importance of the connection between animals and humans.

What really stood out for me in this book was all the wonderful friendships. Sila quickly has Gio in her thrall and the relationship between them is so sweet as the get to know each other. She is such a friendly girl that at first, it's hard to understand why she's such a loner. Sila and Mateo's friendship starts off forced by their school but grows once they are left to themselves. Both Gio and Sila have beautiful connections with Veda, despite her being an elephant!

I really liked how we got to experience the feelings and views of so many characters, even Veda. The way it was written was actually so believable. I even learned a bit about elephants, flamingos and bears. This really was a lovely book and the ending was the most beautiful thing, though really not at all in the way I expected.

The book is released in paperback on 5th August but if you can't wait that long, the ebook is out on 2nd March!

There are a lot of different recipes for a Pink Elephant cocktail so I just went with what I had and made this one. It turned out delicious so I'm happy! In a cocktail glass, pour 1 shot of vodka with a squeeze of lime. Add in 1/4 shot of chambord and top with lemonade. Unfortunately the photo makes it look very orange instead of pink!

 Space Detectives - Mark Powers
(Illustrated by Dapo Adeola)

Book Summary

Dog lost in space? Grown an extra head and don't know why? Pocket money stolen by a green blob? You need the Space Detectives!

Connor and Ethan are spending their summer holidays aboard the world's first orbiting city, Starville (basically Beverley Hills in space!). The amazing space station is bursting with celebrities and the mega-rich. But Connor and Ethan are too busy selling ice cream to see the sights.

However, neither of our heroes can resist a mystery and when they discover the space station is hurtling on a collision course with the moon (eep!) they know they need to step in. This is a case for the SPACE DETECTIVES!

Can Connor and Ethan find the culprit and save Starville from its impending doom?

I'm very excited because for my stop on the tour I have the chance to share an extract from the book. I think this section definitely gets the mystery of the book across and really draws you in!

Prologue

The lone figure stared at the laptop screen and gave a chuckle.

In the darkened room, it was impossible to tell whether the figure was young or old, male or female, human or alien. But there was no mistaking the pure evil in its laugh.

The task that lay ahead was difficult. A few details remained to be checked. But if the plan succeeded, the result would be unimaginable terror …

A muffled voice called, interrupting the figure’s thoughts. The figure closed the laptop and went downstairs for dinner. It was fish fingers.

Connor and Ethan are detectives, having solved lots of mysteries on Earth. But now they have an opportunity to be SPACE DETECTIVES! Working at Ethan's uncle's ice cream stall gives them the chance to stay in Starville and explore somewhere completely different. 

Space is one of my passions so books with anyone going to space always catch my eye, and Starville sounds amazing! Orbiting around the Earth and full of so many alien species, I would love to visit and wouldn't even mind living there. I loved the prologue, bringing in a very mysterious evil and sinister character. Then there are the other hilarious character introductions: Connor - tall, gawky and looked a bit like an ostrich wearing glasses. Ethan - short, squat and constantly bristling with energy like a terrier. The race to save Starville from colliding with the moon was thrilling and this was a really fun book to read.

I found a great cocktail to go with this book, the Drunken Astronaut! The recipe makes this as a slushy but I prefer it as a shaken cocktail. If you'd rather make the slushy, just blend all the ingredients with ice instead of shaking. 1 shot light rum, 3/4 shot each of Chambord and lime juice, 1/4 shot orange curacao, a squeeze of honey and a dash of orange bitters. Garnish with raspberries.

 Specter - Katie Jane Gallagher

Book Summary

Horror aficionado Lanie Adams should be thrilled when two eighties-era ghosts materialize in her bedroom. Yet after a fainting incident unbecoming of a horror nerd, she would rather her haunting just go away — the ghosts’ waterlogged voices and ice-cold auras are more terrifying than any movie. Enlisting the help of Ryan, an entirely-too-cute stoner, she makes it her mission to put the spirits stalking her to rest.

Some sleuthing reveals that their sleepy Connecticut town is host to a shadowy, decades-old conspiracy. If Lanie wants to say a final goodbye to her ghosts, she’ll need to keep digging. But it’s important to tread carefully. The culprit is still in town—and they’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.

Lanie didn't expect to be scared of ghosts in her room at the age of 16, and suddenly they keep popping up. She's not sure whether they are good ghosts or not but she does feel the need to help and she's grateful to have Ryan on her side. Her family, however, are not too happy with her behaviour lately.  She tries very hard to be the same perfect well-behaved daughter she's always been, while simultaneously investigating the ghosts. It's not a simple problem though and solving the mystery involves going right back to her own childhood.

I think this was my favourite new read of the whole competition. The writing was excellent and really pulled me in from the start. I enjoyed following the mystery with all it's twists and turns and couldn't have guessed the outcome. The ghosts were completely different to any I've read about before which was great, it gave the book a very fresh feeling.

Lanie discovers some top secret locations in the book, so I've made a Confidential Cocktail, though I admit I had to adapt it slightly to fit the ingredients I had available. 3/4 shot each of gin and dry vermouth, 1/2 shot each of green chartreuse and maraschino. Stir the ingredients in ice for at least 30 seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

I received this book to read and reviewed as part of the BBNYA 2020 competition organised by the @The_WriteReads tours team. All opinions are my own, unbiased and honest. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors.

If you are an author and wish to learn more about the 2021 BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website (https://www.bbnya.com/) or our Twitter account, @BBNYA_Official. If you would like to sign-up and enter your book, you can find the BBNYA 2021 AUTHOR SIGN UP FORM HERE. Please make sure to carefully read our terms and conditions before entering.

If you are a book blogger or reviewer, you can apply to be part of BBNYA 2021 by filling out this form (also remember to read the terms and conditions before signing up)!

BBNYA is brought to you in association with the Folio Society (If you love beautiful books you NEED to check out their website!) And the book blogger support group TheWriteReads.

 Ever Alice - H.J. Ramsay

Ever Alice was a finalist in the Book Bloggers Novel of the Year award and came 10th. If you want to find out more about entering the competition this year or being a panellist, read down to the end of the post!

Book Summary

Alice’s stories of Wonderland did more than raise a few eyebrows—it landed her in an asylum. Now at 15 years of age, she’s willing to do anything to leave, which includes agreeing to an experimental procedure. When Alice decides at the last minute not to go through with it, she escapes with the White Rabbit to Wonderland and trades one mad house for another: the court of the Queen of Hearts. Only this time, she is under orders to take out the Queen. When love, scandal, and intrigue begin to muddle her mission, Alice finds herself on the wrong side of the chopping block.

Alice's belief in the white rabbit and her adventures in Wonderland cause her family to think she has gone mad and send her to an asylum. There she starts seeing the rabbit again, who gives her the chance to escape from the asylum and return to Wonderland. The Queen is out of control, constantly ordering heads chopped off and the rabbit needs Alice's help to kill her.

One of the interesting things about this version of Alice is that we get to see the Queen's point of view as well as Alice's. While she is quite as mad as in the original, she actually justifies some of her thinking and I could understand her strange logic in some ways. She's so afraid of other people plotting, that she wants to behead them before they can hurt her.

The point of view switched between Alice and Queen Rosamund so fast that I sometimes found it hard to keep track of either side of the story. However the writing was good enough to keep it going. I really liked that it had some of the whimsy of Alice in Wonderland though it doesn't work quite as well as in the original. This story was much more serious but still had the quality of not quite knowing what was real and what wasn't. I think it is partly left up to the reader to decide.

I've made quite a simple shot for this one as you almost need something strong and no-nonsense after spending any length of time in Wonderland!

Fill a shot glass 1/3 with Grand Marnier and then gently pour over with 2/3 shot of tequila.

I received this book to read and reviewed as part of the BBNYA 2020 competition organised by the @The_WriteReads tours team. All opinions are my own, unbiased and honest. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors.

If you are an author and wish to learn more about the 2021 BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website (https://www.bbnya.com/) or our Twitter account, @BBNYA_Official. If you would like to sign-up and enter your book, you can find the BBNYA 2021 AUTHOR SIGN UP FORM HERE. Please make sure to carefully read our terms and conditions before entering.

If you are a book blogger or reviewer, you can apply to be part of BBNYA 2021 by filling out this form (also remember to read the terms and conditions before signing up)!

BBNYA is brought to you in association with the Folio Society (If you love beautiful books you NEED to check out their website!) And the book blogger support group TheWriteReads.