TO READ: Bitterblue

SPOILER ALERT FOR GRACELING

(also, click here for a series of letters between the characters of Graceling and Bitterblue set before the beginning of Bitterblue, written by Kristin Cashore)

The third instalment in Kristin Cashore's The Seven Kingdoms Trilogy is Bitterblue, set eight years after the first book Graceling and on the same side of the mountains as the aforementioned novel - in the kingdom of Monsea, where young Queen Bitterblue now rules, still attempting to help her country recover. This book most certainly has the most complicated plotline of the series, and the darkest themes as well.

Bitterblue is the coming-of-age story of a young queen struggling to find herself and to take control of a kingdom she is supposedly in charge of. Feeling disconnected from the people she rules, Bitterblue begins to sneak out into the city at night to hear stories of her late father, a corrupt king, and it is there that she meets Teddy and Saf - two young men known as truthseekers who use thievery and publishing to try and put right what they believe to be wrong in the world, although there are many who would take extreme measures to silence them. And so it is just as the web of lies set up to make her transition to the throne as a ten-year-old is beginning to fall apart that Bitterblue starts spinning her own web of lies to hide from her advisors that she is trying to uncover the truth, and to hide from her newfound friends the power she truly wields.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Bitterblue; I loved seeing characters we met in Graceling return and I very much liked how relatable the character of Bitterblue is - she might be a queen, but that doesn't mean she can't get just as annoyed and confused as the rest of us (what I would like to know is, who had she been hanging around with who would teach her to use the word "balls" as a curse word?). Of course I particularly love Cashore's writing style, and her use of humour (there are a number of brilliant quotes I could point you to which I found rather amusing). Overall, I would say that Bitterblue is my least favourite in the series - however, please consider that there are only three of them, and that they are all favourite over pretty much all other books I have read.

TO READ: Fire

Fire by Kristin Cashore is the second in her The Seven Kingdoms Trilogy, however not only is it technically a prequel to first in the series Graceling but it isn't actually set in the Seven Kingdoms at all. In a land bordering the Seven Kingdoms to the east of an impassable mountain range known as The Dells, approximately forty years before the events of Graceling. This is, I think, my favourite book. My one favourite, ever. (And such a pretty cover the British edition has!!)

In The Dells - one of only two kingdoms known to its people, the other being the northern sea-faring land of Pikkia - there exists extraordinary creatures which can appear as any species, be it cat, mouse, wolf, raptor... These monsters, as they are called, can be distinguished by their unnaturally vibrant colours, and have the ability to take control of others' minds, which is added to the almost hypnotic effect their beauty has on some.

Seventeen-year-old Fire (so named for her flaming hair) is the only human monster alive, and is hated by many - sometimes for jealousy, sometimes for her father's legacy, but mostly for her venomous mind. Fire hides herself away on her late father's estate in a remote corner of the kingdom, where her kind-hearted neighbour raised her along with his son Archer, Fire's lifelong friend, in the hopes of deflecting all attention. But Fire isn't safe, not even here.

The Dells is a kingdom still recovering from a king corrupted by Fire's monster father Cansrel, and the throne of the current King Nash is unstable, and the threat of war is looming from all sides. Despite the royal family's obvious distrust of her, Fire's gift would be invaluable, and Fire is not her father. This is the story of Fire's fight to prove herself; to stay true to herself and to do what she feels is right and pay back the innocent prince Cansrel tried so many times to kill. Because underneath her otherworldly beauty, Fire is just as human as everybody else.

I wholeheartedly recommend that anyone and everyone reads this book - whether you're male or female, old or young. Partly because of a blog post I just found. I was going to comment on it, but then it became a bit long so I shall be posting it separately. But whether you'd rather read something fast-paced, or something political, or something romantic, or something magical, READ THIS BOOK.

Finally, I'd like to just direct people to a blog post that Kristin Cashore wrote about Fire and why she wrote it. Also, please find the list of awards and raving reviews for Fire here. :)

TO READ: Graceling

And at last, I've got to recommending what is probably my favourite series of books: The Seven Kingdoms trilogy by the wonderful Kristin Cashore (whose blog is here). Graceling is the first in the trilogy to have been published, and is Cashore's debut novel, although in the story's timeline it is not the first chronologically.

Graceling is set in a fictional Medieval-esque world made up of seven kingdoms: Nander, Estill, Sunder, Wester, Monsea, Lienid, and the Middluns. In this world, some people - called Gracelings - are born with extra-special abilities and are marked by having one eye a different colour to the other.

One such Graceling is Katsa, the niece of the king of the Middluns, who is Graced with killing, and is used by her uncle as a weapon to fuel his fearsome reputation. Sickened by the gruesome tasks she is forced to do, Katsa also works for a secret organisation called the Council, which she started herself, to do good and help people in order to balance out all those she has hurt and killed.

It is on a Council mission to rescue the kidnapped father of the peaceful king of Lienid that Katsa stumbles onto a dark mystery that will lead her on a journey of survival and self-discovery across the Seven Kingdoms in the hopes of putting right a world gone wrong.

Winner of several awards and nominated for many more, Graceling is a gripping and fast-paced coming-of-age novel for young adults, beautifully written with a touch of romance and humour, as well as believable characters who I myself have become incredibly emotionally attached to over at least five readings of this book. It's also due to be adapted for the big screen, by the makers of Life Of Pi; it's a film I'm very much looking forward to, I just hope they do it the justice it deserves.

Also, while browsing Kristin Cashore's blog for the link to the post in which the film was announced, I found this awesome post (if you read it, remember to read some of the comments too, as Cashore comments to answer peoples' questions with more wonderful insights). I swear it's the most inspirational post for writers EVER. Another of my favourites is this one; Kristin Cashore has some of the most brilliant advice for writers, I could actually spend all day finding links to posts from her blog that would be helpful to anyone aspiring to be a novelist (she is seriously inspirational).

TO READ: Anna Dressed In Blood

I finished this book by Kendare Blake today having spotted it online and thought "oh, that looks good" and then forgetting about it for months before finding it in my school library yesterday. I did have reservations about dedicating myself to read it, as I do now have schoolwork to be busy with once more, but a quote on the front told me that Cassandra Clare found it "spellbinding and romantic" and I do rather like Cassandra Clare's books, so I figured it wouldn't harm me to give it a read.

Anna Dressed In Blood tells the story of teenager Cas, who, like his dad before him, makes it his duty to destroy murderous ghosts. The book focuses on Cas's experience with a particularly dangerous ghost named Anna Korlov, who was brutally murdered years before, and who is the most powerful ghost Cas has ever encountered. It's a fast-paced horror story - not the sort of thing I'd usually read - but it's also a love story.

I enjoyed reading it and got rather attached to the characters, though I did find it confusing at times. Maybe I just read it too fast. It gets a little gory in parts, which I suppose is why the copy I've borrowed from the library has a "13+" sticker on the front. It did also make me more wary of the creaks my house makes at night - you have been warned. Personally, it's not one of my favourites, but it's still very good and I most certainly recommend it to anyone who cares to listen to me. :)

There is also a sequel, Girl Of Nightmares, which I believe I will be looking out for, and apparently Anna Dressed In Blood is also to become movie.

TO READ: The Light Between Oceans

Sorry this is a couple of days late, but there we go.

I hadn't heard of this book by M. L. Stedman before I picked it up despite the cover claiming it to be an international bestseller (apparently it's also destined for the big screens). Either way, once I started reading it, I couldn't stop. It tells the story of ex-soldier Tom Sherbourne in Australia in the 1920s after the First World War as he becomes a lighthouse keeper on a small remote island called Janus Rock. The main action begins in 1926, when a boat containing a dead man and a baby wash up on the island and Tom and his wife are forced to make a decision that will change their lives.

This is an enticing debut novel which I would recommend firstly to fans of Kate Morton and secondly to anyone who will listen. I found myself getting rather fond of the characters, most of whom just want to do the right thing in a difficult situation, although I did start getting confused between the minor characters towards the end. It isn't often that a book makes me particularly emotional, but this book did almost make me cry, which I consider an achievement on M. L. Stedman's part.

One thing I particularly liked was the detail. I'm not talking about minute detail in lengthy and boring descriptions here, there's none of that (which I recall) but rather all important events are given a mention. You might think this is obvious, but I think something that has annoyed me about books in the past is that they mention something important from the past only later, and that annoys the reader as there is no possible way that they can attempt to predict what's going to happen since they didn't previously know about this event. This is not the case in this book; the past event in question is given in its place in the chronological order of things, leaving the reader wondering its relevance, and we are only enlightened on this point later in the book, something which, for some reason, I did like (this is quite possibly only the writer in me picking up on this). It's only a small point, and something I imagine most people wouldn't notice, but I apparently thought it important, so there we go.

In conclusion, I very much enjoyed this book from the first to the last word, and found it, overall, gripping, intriguing and fascinating with a hint of something enchanting. And no, I can't lend you my copy, because I'll be lending it to all my friends first. :)

TO READ: The Secret Keeper

This is my favourite book by Kate Morton, and, since she is one of my favourite authors anyway, you can take it that the other three took some beating. The Secret Keeper tells the story of Laurel, who, at the age of sixteen, saw her mother Dorothy kill a man. Years later, after a successful and on-going acting career, and as Dorothy nears death, an almost elderly Laurel attempts to find out why her mother did what she did, and who she was before she was a mother. Just as in Morton's other books, the story is told from different points in time; we follow both Laurel searching for information in 2011, and as Dorothy's drama unfolds in wartime Britain in the 1940's.

My mum is reading this book for the first time at the moment, and she's usually pretty good at seeing where things are going, but with this book, every theory she presents to me when I ask where she's read up to is wrong, and the real answer is unexpected. It's full of mystery and intrigue that deepens as the book goes on, and of course a bit of romance. I recommend this book to anyone who will listen.

TO READ: The Importance Of Being Earnest

This is a play I'd like to recommend young people to read, people my own age, because I don't think people my age read things like this enough. I can't remember what my impression of Oscar Wilde was before I read this book in English Literature, but it wasn't good, and I wasn't looking forward to reading it. I thought it would be boring.

Oh, how wrong can you be?

I absolutely loved The Importance Of Being Earnest. My and my friend both thought it was brilliantly hilarious, and declared ourselves in love with Oscar Wilde after the first lesson studying it, despite him being dead and gay. Unfortunately I'm not sure the rest of the class agreed with us; while we were trying to make sure our giggles were silent, none of them seemed to crack a smile.

But I do think it's important for young people to appreciate the genius of the great classic writers such as Oscar Wilde. And, yes, you can watch a film adaptation or a play version of The Importance Of Being Earnest but I think the best way to get the full meaning is to read it.

TO READ: The Night Circus

Erin Morgenstern creates a beautifully vivid world and an enchanting atmosphere in her novel The Night Circus. Trying not to give too much away, it's a story of magicians, of romance, and of a lifelong battle to the death set on an elaborate and unconventional stage. There's something about it, some sense of magic and mystery, that makes it inspiring, un-put-down-able and unique. Perhaps it's in the intriguing storyline with its jumps between the past and present; perhaps it's in the second-person passages which bring The Circus Of Dreams to life; or perhaps it's in the style of Erin Morgenstern's writing which just combines everything so wonderfully.

Whatever it is that makes this book so special, it is indeed special, and if you could only ever read one book in your entire life and I had to recommend that one book to you, it would be this one. It certainly captured a part of my heart and still hasn't let it go.

TO READ: Throne Of Glass

I was drawn to this fantasy novel by American writer Sarah J. Maas because of its promise of an intriguing and different story and a strong female lead character, but I soon found another reason to read it. Throne Of Glass began on writing website FictionPress.Net when Ms. Maas was sixteen. This got my attention because I joined FictionPress when I was thirteen, so I was really excited to find a brilliant, published book which started with a teen author on FictionPress. And a brilliant book it is, too, with elements of a romance and a murder mystery as well as fantasy.

This is the story of 18-year-old Celaena Sardothien, an infamous assassin serving a life sentence in a gruelling work prison which should already have killed her. Celaena dreams of freedom, and it is a chance at freedom she is offered when she is asked to represent the prince in a competition to become the King's Assassin, but will mean either death or a return to prison if she loses.

As I said, I picked up this book because of its promise of something different to the usual teen fantasy fare of vampires and werewolves, so I was disappointed when I found the first signs of a love triangle developing. I have grown sick of love triangles; I hate the things. But Sarah J. Maas actually pulls it off very well, and if you want to know how, or what I mean by that - well, you'll just have to read the book, won't you?

It isn't what I expected from reading the blurb, and there were bits I wasn't satisfied with, but overall the positives outweigh the negatives, and Throne of Glass is definitely worth reading.

TO READ: Mockingbird

Not to be confused with Harper Lee's bestseller, Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine is the story of a young girl named Caitlin who is struggling not only with her brother's death but also with Asperger's, a form of autism. It's well-written and thought-provoking, giving the reader an insight into how someone who lives with Asperger's might think, which was interesting for me as I know someone with a form of autism similar to Asperger's. I know that they read the book too, with somebody else, and apparently they really opened up to discuss the problems that they themselves have in dealing with autism while they were reading the book. It kind of helped me to understand things from the point of view of someone with autism; it's not that they're being stupid or awkward deliberately, it's because they are genuinely struggling with certain things, and this book helped me to see that.

The back of my copy of this book describes it as "bittersweet" and "unforgettable" and I would certainly agree with this. Even if the topic of autism has no relevance to you, I would still recommend you read it.

TO READ: ACID

Is it Sunday? I think it's Sunday. (This is what study leave does to brains who have trouble remembering the day of the week in normal circumstances...) Well I'm posting this whether it's Sunday or not, so deal with it. :)

ACID is the newly released debut novel of English author Emma Pass, who I have actually met. It is a dystopian thriller aimed at teenagers - and not just girls, as one might assume by the fact that the main character is female. ACID tells the story of 17-year-old Jenna Strong, who, in a future Britain controlled by strict dictatorship police force ACID, is trying to survive the high security prison she expects to spend the rest of her life in, until a mysterious rebel group break her out. Full of twists and turns you wouldn't expect, ACID could well be the next big thing in teen fiction.

Of course, it isn't perfect - I know some of my friends at creative writing club who read it had a note-passing conversation picking holes in the plot and confusing themselves with what happened there and why did this happen? However I myself didn't notice these things, and thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is fast-paced, well-written and intriguing; overall, difficult to put down. The ending perhaps fizzled out a bit, but other than that, it is a brilliant book that I completely recommend to girls and boys, teens and adults alike.

TO READ: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

This is a really enjoyable read, and as far as I can remember it is suitable for anyone with an attention span long enough to read it all. It's talented 'authoress' Kate Morton’s debut novel* a romantic mystery set mostly in 1913, 1975 and 2005, in England and in Australia. It’s hard to explain much of what it’s about without giving too much away, but I’ll give it a go:

It’s the story of a young girl found alone on a ship to Australia in 1913 who cannot remember who she is or how she got there, other than something about a woman named the Authoress. It is also the story of Nell, the woman the little girl grows up to be, who in 1975 goes back to England to trace her heritage and find out what happened to her. And finally it is the story of Cassandra, Nell’s granddaughter, who follows Nell’s footsteps because of a house she didn’t know existed and the forgotten garden attached to it in Cornwall which she inherits from Nell after the latter’s death in 2005.

For me The Forgotten Garden is a captivating page turner; a very impressive debut novel which I very much recommend to anyone and everyone. Never mind werewolves, vampires and high school love triangles, I really believe young people should read more books like Kate Morton’s, and they should begin with this one.

If anyone was wondering, the name of this blog is partly inspired by this book, which is why I thought it fitting to write about it first. And next week I WILL post on a Sunday, rather than forgetting and putting it off till next Sunday. :)

*She’s written three novels since, and I can verify that all three are indeed as good as the first; they are The House At Riverton, The Distant Hours and The Secret Keeper.