Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley will be released August 2010, and has no cover art as of yet.
Lucy is looking for Shadow, the anonymous artist who decorates Melbourne's city in his art, with his partner in crime Poet. On the last day of year 12, Lucy, Jazz and Daisy decide to join Ed, Leo and Dylan on a hunt to find Shadow, the man of Lucy's dreams. Jazz and Leo hit it off right away, and he tells her poetry, Dylan and Daisey have been dating for years, and Lucy and Ed, well... Lucy once broke his nose on a date. For these six, can one night, one lie and a whole lot of art help them find what they are looking for?
First things first... Its set in Melbourne!! As a Melbournian this means Graffiti Moon gets a bit more love then books about any other city. I have read two books set in my home town, Beatle Meets Destiny by GabrielleWilliams, which is still one of my favourite books, and now Graffiti Moon, which is another stand out. Unique to Graffiti Moon is that it all takes place over just one night, and for this to work, it has been very well planned out and the plot is fantastic. There are three speakers, Lucy, Ed and Poet, personally I loved Poets interludes of poetry at random points. The over laying of moments as well was a highlight, as Lucy would describe an event to us and then we would hear Ed's version of events, it was nice to see a boys point of a view of their issues as so often it would only be the girls point of view and opinions.
What I really loved about this novel is the use of art, and Ed and Lucy's descriptions of how art makes them feel and how Shadows work affects Lucy, and how much Ed loves and is affected by art no matter how he hides it. Unfortunately I can't really go to much further into the story with out removing your opportunity to read and love this book for yourselves. Suffice to say that each of the six main characters have a great deal of depth, and after reading serial offenders of the one-dimensional-character, to have 6 fully developed characters with an array of faults and a real since of personality was truly what made me enjoy Graffiti Moon so much more.
In a word, this book is Real.
Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams, is available anywhere that sells books.
Posted by
Sadie
3:37 AM
By Midnight by Mia James will be released September 2010
When April Dunne's family gets uprooted from Edinburgh to London, she is not impressed. Now April has to go to the impressive and imposing Ravenwood, for students who are gifted, financially or academically, but April is neither, making it all the more terrifiying. On top of this are 'the Faces' the rich and impossibly beautiful clique at the school, which for an inexplicable reason want to be friends with her, making many enemies for April in the process. After the murder of the rock star Alix Greaves, and being saved by one of the Faces, Gabriel from another murder, April and her new friend conspiracy theorist Caro start to sense something hinky is going on. But the real question is will they solve the mystery before the killer comes for April?
Make no mistake this isn't a supernatural romance, despite its cover, By Midnight most definitely is closer to a murder mystery then Twilight or the other stock-standard supernatural romances. There is romance hidden in there, it just doesn't take precedent over the murders and the mystery that surrounds them and April herself. I really enjoyed the relationship between Caro and April, and as someone who has moved from school to school, it was very believable especially when the appearance of her Edinburgh best friend Fiona is entered into the mix. The lore the author used to back up and support her version of fictional supernatural lore, along with historical facts and murders, really was the point that pulled me in and grab ahold of me for the ride, but to be honest, there were some parts that felt like they were added in to appease the fluffy supernatural fans.
By Midnight is written by a husband and wife team, and by having a male and a female point of view it helped round out the characters of April, Caro, and Gabriel. I also found the periphery characters to be engaging and loved April's quick humour. In short I will be buying the next installment when it comes out, but for the mystery, and scooby-doo factor, not the romance.
I have recently come upon a break in my work schedule, (uni is out!) which means I will finially have the time to move old posts from my other blog relating too books, over to this one. Hopefully I will also be able to start going through the hundreds of books I have written about and read before and making comments on each perhaps with 5 books a post, at the moment I'm not sure how I will get through them all but I will certainly try.
Also on the note of trying something, at the moment I am looking all over the internet for new books, I have noticed a lack of bright and colourful childrens picture books in the store, it is looking decidedly pastel. So I'm on a mission to get some bright colourful and hopefully funny books to fill the dreary shelves (they're not really that dreary but they could be brighter)
Lastly I thought I should note the upcoming full reviews. Soon I'll have one up for Jekel Loves Hyde, by Fantaskey, Love Bites by Claire Hooper, Raised by Wolve by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Angels Blood by Nalini Singh, Grief and Solace by Foz Meadows and the Prince of the Mists by Carlos Ruiz Zafron. Also from my friendly neightbourhood publishing representative, I have been given By Midnight which is by Mia James and is due to be released September 2010 for $22.99, and I have also got Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley which will be releasd for $16.99 august 2010 so I will have reviews up before they're respective release dates.
so stay tuned
Posted by
Sadie
3:35 AM
Soo, Currently I am trawling the Internet looking for the latest up and coming new releases from the major children's and adult publishing companies in Australia.... So hold on to your hats its time for "coming at atcha"
Diary of a Wimpy Vampire by Tim Collins, 1/7/2010 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid, with vampires, I sense hilarity on its way
Reality Check, by Peter Abrahams 1/7/2010- a footballer, a girl and mystery, could be fun. Written from the male perspective it has the potential to be similar to Looking For Alaska by John Green, my favourite book.
The Poison Diaries by Jane Northumberland, 1/7/2010- Supernatural mystery, but not as you know it. With a malevolent father, and a very talented love interest, this has the potential for good romance, with lots of twists.
Once Dead, Twice shy by Kim Harrison 1/7/2010- who doesn't want a second chance with death? Madison gets one, if she can keep it. Murderers Guardian angels, Reapers and crushes, it has the ingredients to be alot of fun... also notice there is a lack of vampires in the write up for this one, so this will be good for those girls trying to get off the vampire kick.
Freeze Frame by Heidi Ayarbe 1/7/2010 - the blurb provided from Harper Collins Australia is quite sparse, its a murder mystery where our hero, is the villain.
A kiss in Time by Alex Flinn 1/7/2010 - another from the Beastly author Alex Flinn, which is just about to come out in the movies, with Alex Pettyfer, Mary Kate Olsen and Vanessa Hudgens, due out in the USA on the 18th of March next year. In keeping with the formula which worked for Beastly this is a new take on the Sleeping beauty tale with a modern teenage twist.
Love you Hate you Miss you 1/7/2010- could you live with out our BFF, well Amy has too after her best friends death. About how to keep moving after deaths of your love ones, and giving the future a chance.
Smiling Jack by Ken Catran 1/7/2010 - a new teen mystery thriller, for the boys. Robert has to learn more about his father then he ever new if he is going to save him self from the man with the smiling jack playing card who killed his father.
Forgive my Fins by Tera Lynn- Childs 1/8/2010- I saw this on Goodreads about 3 months ago, and have been keeping my eyes out for it ever since. In the supernatural romances there has been, vampires werewolves, fairies, pixies, wizards, shafeshifters, but as of yet this the first in the latest craze with mermaids, and not just any mermaid, a half human half mer living among us humans.... sounds interesting right?
Stay Tuned Bibliophiles, a update to this list is on its way
Currently Reading: Love bites by Claire Hooper
They're three brothers, Cassel Baron and Philip. Cassel is the odd one out, he isn't a worker, which means can't do magic with his hands like his two brothers. For Cassel this means that he has no place in his families world, where they never tell him anything of their 'worker' lives. So when he is sent to his brothers house; he starts to notice something is missing, there is something that everyone knows but him, not that this is new to him, his entire family are mobsters and con-artists. This time is different though, for Cassel it starts to look like his sleepwalking and his brothers secrets are coming together; now he has to use all of his Con-artist talents to try to out con his family, and solve the puzzel around the the girl he murdered.
Diffinately for the older range of young adults (15+), this tale is very well put together and is a compulsive read. Holly Black some of you may remember is the co-author of the beloved Spiderwick Chronicles Series for younger readers (7+) and also the Tithe, Valiant and Ironside, A Modern Faerie Tale (15+). To be honest I haven't read The Modern Faerie Tale set, but I loved White Cat.
In White Cat it is clear that Holly Black has in vested a lot of time into developing the emtions in this book, the is a lot of anger, grief, shame, and this time has paided off, the feelings of the characters make them more real, and easier to connect with. While reading about halfway through I became concerned that this was going to turn out to be a clear cut teenage romance, where everything ends and everything is okay, thankfully I was wrong. Holly Black is more realistic then some authors (s-meyer) with the characters feelings, they are not just happy or sad, they are written to show a full range of emotions, with a lot of hate, none of which takes away from the story. I felt that they rounded it out into a way which I could relate to Cassel and how I would be feeling in his place.
Besides finding a common emotional ground with the main character other point I loved, was the use of a almost all male cast, and when the females were present they were strong, creative, fiery characters who never let the men take over (when they could help it). I also liked the ending but be warned, there is a massive Twist in the end, one I didn't see coming, after all the twists that came before it. It broke my heart but made me really love all the characters in this book despite their wicked natures.
In one word this book was, Engrossing.
Age: 15 and above, be aware there are torture scenes, murder, and death. None of which are glorified nether the less one of the major arches deals with these, so it isn't for the mature 10 yr old.
Score: 9 out of 10, only because my heart broke for Cassel multiple times, (not a bad thing, I'm just not over it yet)
Read more about White Cat by Holly Black at: http://thecurseworkers.com/
