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Blog Tour and Giveaway- Keeper of the Bees @megkassel @entangledteen

Keeper of the Bees by Meg Kassel Genre: YA Paranormal Release Date: September 4th 2018 Entangled Teen Summary: “ Beauty and the beast like you’ve never imagined! ” — New York Times bestselling author Pintip Dunn KEEPER OF THE BEES is a tale of two teens who are both beautiful and beastly, and whose pasts are entangled in surprising and heartbreaking ways. Dresden is cursed. His chest houses a hive of bees that he can’t stop from stinging people with psychosis-inducing venom. His face is a shifting montage of all the people who have died because of those stings. And he has been this way for centuries—since he was eighteen and magic flowed through his homeland, corrupting its people. He follows harbingers of death, so at least his curse only affects those about to die anyway. But when he arrives in a Midwest town marked for death, he encounters Essie, a seventeen-year-old girl who suffers from debilitating delusions and hallucinations. His bees want to sting her on sight. But Essie does...

The Secret

Theatre review - I Know You by Sam Moore

Title: I Know You Writer: Sam Moore Directors: Rosie Richards, Georgia Reddington Performed by: Magpie Productions Seen at: the Burton Taylor Studio Cast: Sammy Breen, Benjamin Ashton, Joshua Cathcart Review: Two men stand on a street corner. One remarks that the other looks nice. The other replies that that’s not what he’s looking for. They return home and sleep together. Afterwards, they discuss other men and how similar they actually are and how well one knows the other. This new writing by Sam Moore is described by directors Rosie Richards and Georgia Reddington as Pinter-esque, postmodern, and about “stigma, repression, mental health, and intimacy.”   We see characters  who have sex with and share lives with each other, but in other ways are detached. As an audience, we may watch characters having sex and panic attacks and we listen to them tell some of the most private stories about their lives, but we don’t ever learn their real names.  There were apprehension...

Book Review- Blue is the Warmest Colour by Julie Maroh

Title:   Blue is the Warmest Colour / Le bleu est une couleur chaud Author:  Julie Maroh Published:   April 2010 by Glenat Length:  157 pages Warnings:   graphic sex scenes Source: library Other info: This got adapted into a film, La Vie d’Adele, which won the Palme d’Or. Summary :  Clementine is a junior in high school who seems average enough: she has friends, family, and the romantic attention of the boys in her school. When her openly gay best friend takes her out on the town, she wanders into a lesbian bar where she encounters Emma: a punkish, confident girl with blue hair. Their attraction is instant and electric, and Clementine find herself in a relationship that will test her friends, parents, and her own ideas about herself and her identity. Review : Clementine, age fifteen, sees a blue-haired girl in the street one day. Further meetings with this girl, Emma,  leads to attraction, eventually love. I wanted to read this because a) it's a lesbi...

Book Review- This Is Not a Love Story by Keren David

Title: This Is Not A Love Story Author: Keren David Series:   N/A Published:   7 May 2015 by Atom Length: 352 pages Source: library Other info: Keren David has also written the When I Was Joe series (When I Was Joe, Almost True, and Another Life), Salvage, Lisa's Guide to Winning the Lottery, and Cuckoo.  Summary :  Kitty dreams of a beautiful life, but that's impossible in suburban London where her family is haunted by her father's unexpected death. So when her mum suggests moving to Amsterdam to try a new life, Kitty doesn't take much persuading. Will this be her opportunity to make her life picture perfect? In Amsterdam she meets moody, unpredictable Ethan, and clever, troubled Theo. Two enigmatic boys, who each harbour their own secrets. In a beautiful city and far from home, Kitty finds herself falling in love for the first time. But will love be everything she expected? And will anyone's heart survive? Review:  Kitty and Theo have recently moved to Amsterd...

Book Review- This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Title:     This is Where It Ends Author:  Marieke Nijkamp Series:   N/A Published:     5 th January 2016 Length:  292 pages Source: The #TIWIEUKTour organised by Luna of Luna’s Little Library Summary :  10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve. 10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class. 10:03 The auditorium doors won't open. 10:05 Someone starts shooting. Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival. Review: This is the story of a school shooting, told as it happens from the perspectives of the shooter's sister Autumn, Autumn's girlfriend Sylv, Sylv's brother Tomás, and the shooter's ex-girlfriend, Claire.  I wanted to read this because it's an amazing ...

Book Review- I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Title:     I’ll Give You the Sun by Author:  Jandy Nelson Series:   N/A Published:   2 April 2015 by Walker Length:  416 pages Source: library Other info:   Nelson has also written The Sky is Everywhere Summary :  Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to rema...

Book Review- Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Title:   Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda Author:    Becky Albertalli Series:   N/A Published:   7 April 2015 by Penguin Length :  320 pages Source: netgalley Summary :   Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised. With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, comp...

Book Review: The Bubble Wrap Boy by Phil Earle

Title:   The Bubble Wrap Boy Author:    Phil Earle Series:     N/A Published:   1 May 2014 by Penguin Length:    272 pages Source: library Other info: Earle has also written Heroic, Being Billy, and Saving Daisy Summary :   All my life I've been tiny Charlie from the Chinese Chippie, whose only friend is Sinus, the kid who stares at walls. But I believe that everyone's good at something. I've just got to work out what my something is... Charlie's found his secret talent: skateboarding. It's his one-way ticket to popularity. All he's got to do is practice, and nothing's going to stop him - not his clumsiness, not his overprotective mum, nothing. Except Charlie isn't the only one in his family hiding a massive secret, and his next discovery will change everything. How do you stay on the board when your world is turned upside down? Review: Charlie Han is the boy from the Chinese takaway shop, with an overprotective mother and only one...

Book Review: Purity by Jackson Pearce

Title: Purity  Author: Jackson Pearce Series:   N/A Published:    6 March 2014 by Hodder Length: 224 pages Source: publisher Summary : A novel about love, loss, and sex -- but not necessarily in that order. Before her mother died, Shelby promised three things: to listen to her father, to love as much as possible, and to live without restraint. Those Promises become harder to keep when Shelby's father joins the planning committee for the Princess Ball, an annual dance that ends with a ceremonial vow to live pure lives -- in other words, no "bad behavior," no breaking the rules, and definitely no sex. Torn between Promises One and Three, Shelby makes a decision -- to exploit a loophole and lose her virginity before taking the vow. But somewhere between failed hookup attempts and helping her dad plan the ball, Shelby starts to understand what her mother really meant, what her father really needs, and who really has the right to her purity Review : Shelby promised her ...

Book Review- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Title: We Were Liars  Author: E. Lockhart Series: N/A   Published:    13 May 2014 by Hot Key Books Length: 240 pages Source: library Summary : A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island. A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution. An accident. A secret. Lies upon lies. True love. The truth. Review : Cady is one of the Liars, the younger end of a family that meets every summer to spend the holiday at the summer home. At some point, she loses her memories.  Two years later, she wants to find out what happened. I was really looking forwards to this and everyone really enjoyed it and watching somep ople's reactions during the liveread made me think it was going to be amazing. Sadly for me it wasn't. I think I missed something at the start but I really don't get why everyone loves this. It's slow. The writing, while stripped back in places, seems boring too. ...

Book Review- Love Letters to the Dead

Title: Love Letters to the Dead  Author: Ava Dellaira Series:   N/A Published:   1 May 2014 by Hot Key Books Length: 327 pages Source: publisher Other info: This is Ava’s debut Summary : It begins as an assignment for English class: write a letter to a dead person - any dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain - he died young, and so did Laurel's sister May - so maybe he'll understand a bit of what Laurel is going through. Soon Laurel is writing letters to lots of dead people - Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, River Phoenix, Amelia Earhart... it's like she can't stop. And she'd certainly never dream of handing them in to her teacher. She writes about what it's like going to a new high school, meeting new friends, falling in love for the first time - and how her family has shattered since May died. But much as Laurel might find writing the letters cathartic, she can't keep real life out forever. The ghosts of her past won't be contained between the lines of a...

Book Review- Model Misfit by Holly Smale

Title: Model Misfit  Author: Holly Smale Series:   Geek Girl #2 Published:   26 September 2013 by Harper Collins Length: 356 pages Source: netgalley Other info: I kind of enjoyed Geek Girl (review here ). Picture Perfect is coming in June. Summary : “My name is Harriet Manners, and I am still a geek.” Harriet knows that modelling won’t transform you. She knows that being as uniquely odd as a polar bear isn’t necessarily a bad thing (even in a rainforest). And that the average person eats a ton of food a year, though her pregnant stepmother is doing her best to beat this. What Harriet doesn’t know is where she’s going to fit in once the new baby arrives. With summer plans ruined, modelling in Japan seems the perfect chance to get as far away from home as possible. But nothing can prepare Harriet for the craziness of Tokyo, her competitive model flatmates and her errant grandmother’s ‘chaperoning’. Or seeing gorgeous Nick everywhere she goes. Because, this time, Harriet kn...

Book review- A Kiss in the Dark by Cat Clarke

Title: A Kiss In The Dark  Author: Cat Clarke Series:   N/A Published:   3 April 2014 by Quercus Length: 384 pages Warnings: brings up sexual assault Source: publisher Other info: Cat has written Entangled, Torn, and Undone which I read and reviewed. She also wrote Falling, a shorter story, which I read and enjoyed. Summary : When Alex meets Kate the attraction is instant. Alex is funny, good-looking, and a little shy – everything that Kate wants in a boyfriend. Alex can’t help falling for Kate, who is pretty, charming and maybe just a little naive… But one of them is hiding a secret, and as their love blossoms, it threatens to ruin not just their relationship, but their lives. Graph: This is a new feature I am trialling which I will use when my opinion of things or levels of devices like scares, tension, interest, fun, laughs (anything really) fluctuate  throughout a  book.  Tell me what you think of it and if I should do more. Review : Alex gets to know...

Book Review- Trouble by Non Pratt

Title:   Trouble  Author:   Non Pratt Series:   N/A Published:   6 March 2014 by Walker Length: 364 pages Source: publisher Other info: this is Non’s debut novel. Summary : A boy. A girl. A bump. Trouble.Hannah’s smart and funny ... she’s also fifteen and pregnant. Aaron is new at school and doesn’t want to attract attention. So why does he offer to be the pretend dad to Hannah’s unborn baby? Growing up can be trouble but that’s how you find out what really matters. Review : Hannah is fifteen and pregnant. And she won't tell anyone who the father is. Aaron is the new boy at school whose father is a teacher. Aaron offers to pretend to be the father. Hannah agrees. Trouble ensues. I read this because everyone was saying how good it is. I am very glad I followed everyone's advice. I would very much like to congratulate the cover designers. It's eyecatching, instantly tells you what  Trouble is about, and doesn't make it seem off-putting at all. Hannah is...

Book Review- Boys Don't Knit by T. S. Easton

Title: Boys Don't Knit  Author: T. S. Easton Series:  Boys Don't Knit #1 Published:  1  January 2014 by Hot Key Books Length: 227 pages Source: publisher Other info: There's an amazon page for a sequel, An English Boy in New York! Summary : Ben Fletcher must get to grips with his more 'feminine' side following an unfortunate incident with a lollipop lady and a stolen bottle of Martini Rosso from Waitrose. All a big misunderstanding of course. To avoid the Young Offenders unit, Ben is ordered to give something back to the community and develop his sense of social alignment. Take up a hobby and keep on the straight and narrow. The hot teacher he likes runs a knitting group so Ben, reluctantly at first, gets 'stuck in'. Not easy when your dad is a sports fan and thinks Jeremy Clarkson is God. To his surprise, Ben finds that he likes knitting and that he has a mean competitive streak. If he can just keep it all a secret from his mates...and notice that the gir...

Book Review-Red by Alison Cherry

Title: Red  Author: Alison Cherry Series:  N/A Published:  2 January 2014 by Quercus Length: 320 pages Source:  publishers  Summary : Top student. Beauty queen. Girlfriend of the hottest football jock: Felicity's got everything. And it's all down to her red, red hair. Felicity lives in Scarletville, the world's only redhead sanctuary, where red hair is celebrated, protected - and the key to sucess. But Felicity has a secret. A red hot secret. And if anyone finds out, she's finished. Because Felicity's actually a natural blonde. And in Scarletville, blondes need not apply. Review : In Scarlettville, red hair is  prized. If you have redhair, you'll win beauty pagents, be wildly successful and have a good life. Felicity has been enjoyting this, and is going for the title of Miss Scarlet. But she can only do this if she can keep her secret: she's naturally strawberry blonde and gets her red from a secret  salon.  When I read the summary for Red, I was...

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