tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2114233239471741642024-03-18T05:25:14.623-07:00Everything AlyceAlyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.comBlogger770125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-58411831815789141242017-05-14T11:14:00.000-07:002017-05-14T11:14:21.274-07:00WTF Did I Miss This Week? #32 (w/c 08/05/17)<b>The publishing world:</b><br />
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I can't believe there are still more <b>new releases </b>coming. Stop, I need a chance to catch up on the ones that have already come out!:<br />
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<img alt="Image result for it started with goodbye christina june" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1492238863l/27830287.jpg" height="320" width="210" /><img alt="Image result for killing gravity corey j white" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479841956l/33091587.jpg" height="320" width="200" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for girling up mayim bialik" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Ye9iKZD5L.jpg" width="211" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for woman no. 17 lepucki" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1471538523l/23616719.jpg" height="320" width="212" /><img alt="Image result for sherrilyn kenyon deadmen walking" src="http://www.sherrilynkenyon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/deadmen-walking_Fin-2-181x292.jpg" height="320" width="197" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for since we fell dennis lehane" src="http://dennislehane.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/SinceWeFell-hc-c.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for the girl on the bridge hayman" height="320" src="https://i.harperapps.com/covers/9780062657213/y450-293.png" width="212" /><img alt="Image result for ramona blue murphy" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491125415l/31449227.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for the traitor's kiss" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1485799438l/29346870.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for it's not like it's a secret" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491123320l/31449230.jpg" height="320" width="212" /><img alt="Image result for umberland spinale" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479443679l/32332938.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for brave new girl vincent" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476223616l/25796631.jpg" height="320" width="225" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for the duke of bannerman prep" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1486180055l/31213230.jpg" height="320" width="212" /><img alt="Image result for deacon locke went to prom" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476219853l/31448982.jpg" height="320" width="212" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for dear reader o'connell" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474343789l/26625252.jpg" height="320" width="210" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for the foretelling of georgie spider" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1438519908l/18872201.jpg" height="320" width="208" /><img alt="Image result for the go-between chambers" src="http://images.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/9781101930953" height="320" width="212" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for juan pablo and the butterflies flowers" src="http://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781507202142/juan-pablo-and-the-butterflies-9781507202142_hr.jpg" height="320" width="207" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for the lines we cross abdel-fattah" height="320" src="https://ewedit.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/9781338118667_9167a.jpg?w=450" width="213" /><img alt="Image result for someone else's summer bateman" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476497273l/30285632.jpg" height="320" width="213" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for that thing we call a heart karim" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491125247l/31449226.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><br />
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There were two beautiful <b>cover reveals</b>, which brought tears to my eyes:<br />
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<img height="400" src="https://ewedit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/the_becoming_of_noah_shaw.jpg?w=1800" width="265" /><img alt="Before I Let Go Cover Reveal.jpg" height="400" src="https://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/Before%20I%20Let%20Go%20Cover%20Reveal.jpg" width="266" /></div>
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I'm so excited to read both of these books. </div>
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In <b>other news</b>:<br />
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<li>The <a href="https://twitter.com/BranfordBoase/status/861474379015888896">shortlist</a> for the <b>2017 Branford Boase Award </b>was released...</li>
<li>...while the winners of the <b>Nibbies </b>(The British Book Awards, if you want their official title) <a href="http://www.foyles.co.uk/news/British-Book-Award-Winners-2017">were announced</a>! </li>
<li><b>Marieke Nijkamp </b>is <a href="https://twitter.com/mariekeyn/status/862789355143823360">editing an anthology</a>! It's going to feature a bunch of #ownvoices disabled authors and will be released in 2018. </li>
<li><b>Andy Weir</b>'s next novel, 'Artemis', is being <a href="http://bookriot.com/2017/05/09/andy-weirs-new-novel-artemis-hits-shelves-this-november/">released in November</a>. </li>
<li><b>Patrick Ness </b>revealed that the <a href="https://twitter.com/Patrick_Ness/status/862714379971813380">Chaos Walking movie</a> is officially happening. Shooting starts this summer, which gives me plenty of time to actually read the trilogy... </li>
<li><b>Rae Earl </b>has announced <a href="https://twitter.com/RaeEarl/status/863290350860869632">her next project</a>: she's releasing a YA non-fiction title called 'It's All In Your Head' on the 10th of August. </li>
<li>There have been two huge <b>YALC </b><a href="https://twitter.com/yalc_uk?lang=en">announcements</a> in the past week, and it's not over yet: another batch of authors are being announced on Tuesday. </li>
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<b>The music world:</b><br />
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It was a huge week for <b>new releases</b>:<br />
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<img alt="Image result for machine gun kelly bloom" src="http://www.rap-up.com/app/uploads/2017/04/mgk-bloom-cover.jpg" height="200" width="200" /><img alt="Image result for after laughter paramore" height="200" src="https://images.genius.com/7403a1949dcfa699dbf64bec6b12b572.1000x1000x1.jpg" width="200" /><img alt="Image result for kasabian album 2017" src="http://obs.smehost.net/kasabiancouk-ukprod/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/KSBN-FCOL_STD-AlbumLAYERED_v3.5.jpg" height="200" width="200" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for state champs around the world and back deluxe" src="http://is4.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music111/v4/ac/89/1c/ac891ceb-bb3d-b3ce-3e9c-cfd9d4d16e43/source/1200x630bb.jpg" height="200" width="200" /><img alt="Image result for vinyl theatre origami" src="http://vinyltheatre.com/origami/images/albumArt.png" height="192" width="200" /><img alt="Image result for miss vincent somewhere else" src="http://mosh.hitthefloor.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2017/04/miss-vincent-690x690.jpg" height="200" width="200" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for harry styles album cover" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a0/HarryStyles-albumcover.png/220px-HarryStyles-albumcover.png" width="200" /></div>
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After the excitement of last week, the <b>new music </b>isn't stopping:</div>
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<b>Milk Teeth </b>releasing 'Owning Your Okayness', their first single on Roadrunner Records:</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sollle3EAZ4" width="560"></iframe>
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<b>Jenna McDougall </b>of Tonight Alive teamed up with Australian rapper Illy for 'Oh My': </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CH-tSXVrjKs" width="560"></iframe>
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<b>I Prevail </b>want you to 'Come and Get It': </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lrAOUEyYbQc" width="560"></iframe>
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<b>Miley Cyrus </b>really loves living in 'Malibu':</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8j9zMok6two" width="560"></iframe>
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<b>Courage My Love </b>'Need Someone' to watch their new video:</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J0lGbhBLE_o" width="560"></iframe>
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There were also new releases from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhpN1_NrXmk">MGK</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQhU6yTntK8">Papa Roach</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_hzZKIjVu8">blink-182</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPI-mRFEIH0">Katy Perry</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9_gWiwAWrA">Linkin Park</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu1OlkzlS94">Hundredth</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xbXDwP5Rik">Miss May I</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBXcYLVpC5g">Broadside</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5hMBxYqq5c">Fleet Foxes</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j04JKdcXjkU">k.flay</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMF8YzcWm2M">Louise Distras</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khqRs0g3wvE">Bleachers</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olBp21Lt6gw">Obey The Brave</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9S6KMC6MS4">Greywind</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zCh0kxrbEs">Eighteen Visions</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ1PHQr4qrI">Tigers Jaw</a>, <a href="https://chorus.fm/news/third-eye-blind-alright-caroline/">Third Eye Blind</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qALvRCFNNpo">HAIM</a>, while <b>Patent Pending </b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMo7CVXxItc">covered 'Livin' La Vida Loca'</a>, The Summer Set's Brian Logan Dales released <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/the_summer_sets_brian_dales_releases_debut_solo_song_young_for_the_summerli">his first solo song</a> under the name<b> DALES</b>, and <b>The Maine </b>released <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECdOw19FZKM">a live version</a> of 'Raining in Paris'. </div>
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Can I get a WHAT WHAT for these amazing <b>tour announcements</b>?: </div>
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<li style="text-align: left;">For the love of nostalgia, <b>Dashboard Confessional </b>and <b>The All-American Rejects </b>have announced a <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/all_american_rejects_and_dashboard_confessional_reveal_tour_with_the_maine">co-headline tour</a>! With dates running from July to August, there's plenty of opportunity to catch these two. Support comes from The Maine and Social Animals. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>This Wild Life </b>have announced an extensive headline tour <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thiswildlife/photos/a.342286362479095.75680.149788318395568/1574320675942318/?type=1&theater">throughout July and August</a>, playing across North America and Canada. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;">As well as signing to Roadrunner Records and announcing their new EP, 'Be Nice', <b>Milk Teeth </b>also treated us to tour dates this week. They're headlining shows <a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/milk-teeth-reveal-new-song-announce-uk-tour-and-new-ep">across the UK</a> during July and August, following their appearances at Slam Dunk and 2000 Trees. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Trivium </b>are headlining shows across Europe <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BuryTomorrow/photos/a.167957551207.159244.48692891207/10155028425761208/?type=3&theater">in August</a>. Support comes from Obituary and Bury Tomorrow.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>With Confidence </b>are playing shows in their home country of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/withconfidence/photos/gm.1388647937896635/1324823387555036/?type=3&theater">Australia in August</a>, and they're taking Seaway and WSTR along for the ride. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Korn </b>have announced a <a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/korn-have-announced-a-headline-uk-show">UK warm-up show</a> for Reading and Leeds festival. They're headlining Brixton O2 Academy on August 23rd. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>The Who </b>and <b>Guns n' Roses </b>are playing <a href="http://www.nme.com/news/music/guns-n-roses-announce-joint-tour-2067755?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social">some shows together</a> in South America at the end of the year. It looks like more information is still to come... </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Rise Against </b>are headlining shows across North America <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/pierce_the_veil_rise_against_announce_tour">in September and October</a>. Support comes from Pierce the Veil and White Lung. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Against Me </b>are playing <a href="https://www.punknews.org/article/63788/tours-against-me-bleached-the-dirty-nil-north-america">across North America</a> during September and October. Support comes from Bleached and The Dirty Nil. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Waterparks </b>have announced their first UK headline tour. They're <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Waterparks/photos/a.176935162371479.46059.175146525883676/1405607532837563/?type=3&theater">returning to our shores</a> in September, and playing two headline shows in Germany at the start of October. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Things are getting heavy in November: <b>Counterparts </b><a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/counterparts-have-announced-a-tour">will be touring the UK</a> with Polar and Napoleon. </li>
</ul>
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The <b>album announcements </b>just aren't stopping:</div>
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<ul>
<li><b>Evanescence </b><a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/evanescence_announce_new_album_synthesis">have announced</a> their first album in six years, but 'Synthesis' will only feature two new songs.</li>
<li>Having been a band for four years, <b>Fort Hope </b>are finally releasing <a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/fort-hope-have-announced-their-debut-album">their debut album</a>, 'The Flood Flowers: Volume 1', on June 16th.</li>
<li><b>Imagine Dragons </b>are releasing <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7791817/imagine-dragons-evolve-new-album-tour-whatever-it-takes">their third album</a>, 'Evolve', on June 23rd...</li>
<li>...the same date that <b>The White Noise </b>are releasing <a href="http://pupfresh.com/post/160588537194">their debut album</a>, 'AM/PM'...</li>
<li>...and <b>Captain We're Sinking</b>'s 'The King of No Man' <a href="https://www.punknews.org/article/63807/captain-were-sinking-announce-new-album">comes out</a>, too. </li>
<li><b>88 Finger Louie </b>are releasing their <a href="https://www.punknews.org/article/63808/88-finger-louie-announce-thank-you-for-being-a-friend">first album in over 19 years</a> - 'Thank You For Being a Friend' - on June 30th...</li>
<li>...which also heralds the release of the new <b>Calvin Harris </b><a href="https://chorus.fm/news/calvin-harris-announces-new-album/">album, 'Funk Wav Bounces Vol 1.'</a> </li>
<li><b>Sheer Mag</b>'s <a href="https://www.punknews.org/article/63804/sheer-mag-announce-new-album-release-single">new album</a>, 'Need To Feel Your Love', is arriving on July 10th. </li>
<li><b>In This Moment</b>'s 'Ritual' is <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/in_this_moment_officially_announce_new_album_ritual_reveal_new_song_oh_lord">hitting the shelves</a> on July 21st. </li>
<li><b>Die Antwoord </b>are releasing 'The Book of Zef' <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/die_antwoord_announce_new_and_reportedly_final_album_the_book_of_zef">in September</a>, and it might signal the end of the band. </li>
</ul>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
In <b>other news</b>:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul>
<li><b>Linkin Park </b>announced that <b>Snoop Dogg </b>will be <a href="http://loudwire.com/linkin-park-october-2017-shows-snoop-dogg/">opening their October shows</a>. Just me that's thinking this is a weird mix? </li>
<li>Meanwhile, vocalist <b>Chester Bennington </b><a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/linkin-parks-chester-bennington-on-hybrid-theory-move-the-fuck-on">told fans</a> to "move the fuck on" from 'Hybrid Theory', and Slipknot/Stone Sour's <b>Corey Taylor </b><a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/corey-taylor-responds-to-linkin-park-be-fortunate-for-what-you-have">admonished him</a>. Beef? </li>
<li><b>Korn </b>had to <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/korn_cancel_pointfest_appearance_due_to_jonathan_davis_voice_issues">cancel their appearance</a> at Pointfest after Jonathan Davis was ordered by doctors to go on vocal rest...</li>
<li>...while <b>Avenged Sevenfold </b><a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/avenged_sevenfold_drop_out_friday_philly_show_metallica_may_12_2017">dropped out of supporting Metallica</a> so guitarist Synyster Gates' could get home for the birth of his first child. Bloody good excuse, and they've already announced <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AvengedSevenfold/photos/a.387990985582.170882.8308655582/10154347501165583/?type=3&theater">the rescheduled date</a>!</li>
<li>Another cause for celebration: <b>Issues</b>' bassist, Skyler Acord, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BT2G8kUhgkI/?taken-by=skyduck64&hl=en">got married</a>! </li>
<li>After five years, <b>Chasing Cadence </b>have <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ChasingCadence/photos/a.154938777933172.35813.100246603402390/1349252801835091/?type=3&theater">called it a day</a>. They're playing their final shows throughout May and July, with their last performance happening on August 11th at The Black Heart in Camden: ticket information is being released soon. </li>
<li><a href="http://jezebel.com/member-of-queer-punk-band-pwr-bttm-accused-of-sexual-as-1795132781?rev=1494610541645&utm_campaign=socialfow_jezebel_twitter&utm_source=jezebel_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow">Sexual assault allegations</a> have surfaced regarding Ben from <b>PWR BTTM</b>. It's likely that this story will develop further...</li>
<li>...as will the saga surrounding <b>Pentagram</b>, whose vocalist Bobby Liebling <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/pentagram_bobby_liebling_reportedly_arrested_assault_ousted_from_band">appears to have been fired</a> after being arrested for assault. Oopsies. </li>
<li>It's been a big week for <b>Paramore</b>: they've announced that Parahoy! <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/73471-paramore-announce-parahoy-festival-cruise/">will be setting sail</a> in 2018, and have <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/paramore-settle-lawsuit-with-former-bassist-w482056">settled their lawsuit</a> with ex-bassist Jeremy Davis.</li>
<li><b>Taking Back Sunday </b>are <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TakingBackSunday/photos/a.148471396408.120708.23854511408/10154540416736409/?type=3&theater">taking their fans to Jamaica</a> for their first ever 'destination event'. Their Island Adventure Fun Time Jamboree runs from January 4th to January 8th 2018. </li>
<li>All of the members of <b>My Chemical Romance </b><a href="https://twitter.com/jareddino/status/862592855243665410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rocksound.tv%2Fnews%2Fread%2Fall-of-my-chemical-romance-hung-out-together-last-night">hung out</a>, and the world exploded. </li>
<li><b>The Offspring</b>'s frontman, Dexter Holland, casually got a <a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/the-offsprings-frontman-just-got-a-phd-in-molecular-biology">PhD in molecular biology</a>, because why not?</li>
<li>Tyler Joseph of <b>twenty one pilots </b>uses his time off to perform his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR0Pv4IgPxY">own songs at karaoke bars</a>. Of course!</li>
<li>The <a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/features/read/results-competition-to-pay-the-rock-sound-breakout-stage-at-slam-dunk-festi">last three bands</a> have been added to <b>Slam Dunk Festival</b>. </li>
<li><b>Rock Sound </b><a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/rock-sound-named-international-publication-of-the-year">were named</a> International Publication of the Year. They deserve it. </li>
</ul>
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Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-34897047925956111682017-05-14T04:57:00.000-07:002017-05-14T04:57:02.871-07:00'Riverkeep' by Martin Stewart<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image result for riverkeep by martin stewart" height="400" src="https://www.penguin.co.uk/content/dam/catalogue/pim/editions/22/9780141362038/cover.jpg" width="260" /></div>
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<b>*This review will contain spoilers!*</b></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>'"Your hands are shaking, Wulliam."</b></blockquote>
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<b>Wull shrugged and shifted his grip on the mug.</b></blockquote>
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<b>"It's cold."</b></blockquote>
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<b>Pappa laughed, releasing a stinging breeze of lakoris tobacco.</b></blockquote>
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<b>"That's no' cold. Cold is when yer eyeballs scratch when ye blink, when it hurts to breathe. Ye'll be a Riverkeep soon. Ye'll get used to that quick enough."</b></blockquote>
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<b>"I'm no' Riverkeep yet," said Wull. <i>Never</i>, he thought.' </b> </blockquote>
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Wull's father is the Riverkeep, but on his sixteenth birthday he has to take the oars and become the Riverkeep himself. His birthday is still a few days away and he's certain he's going to be able to avoid his responsibilities somehow... Until his father gets dragged into the river by a bohdan, which possesses him and starts slowing killing him from the inside out.<br />
Wull hears that the mythical beast the mormorach has resurfaced. Having researched the bohdan he knows that part of the mormorach can cure those who have been afflicted, so he puts his father in the bata - the Riverkeep's trusty boat - and sails down the Danek river towards Canna Bay, where the mormorach is rampaging.<br />
Along the way, he acquires some companions. There's Mix, who was stowing away on a boat with some pirates and decides to stowaway on the bata instead. He also finds Tillinghast, a homunculus with a death wish, and Remedie, who's cradling a wooden baby called Bonn.<br />
The ragtag group head along the river, getting up to all kinds of crazy antics on the way, but Wull's Pappa is still deteriorating. Will he be able to get to the mormorach in time?</div>
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Oh, if only there was something good to say. <b>Everything about this was terrible</b>.<br />
I don't say that lightly. <b>Normally I can find at least one positive aspect in any novel</b>, but I'm actually scratching my head and feeling completely baffled about how this even got published (let alone why it's shortlisted for the YA Book Prize!).<br />
Okay, I guess <b>I liked the concept</b>. I was expecting it to be more like Claire McFall's 'Ferryman' (a book <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2014/09/ferryman-by-claire-mcfall.html">I also hated</a>, hmm...) as I'd assumed the Riverkeeps were pulling corpses out of the river to welcome them to the other side rather than just because there was an alarming amount of dead bodies in that stretch of water, but I guess someone has to do it!<br />
I appreciated the fact that Wull was trying to save his father, rather than it being a parent attempting to save their child. It was nice to get that flipped on his head, and to see Wull attempting to fill his Pappa's boots as he unexpectedly became Riverkeep early. But <b>Wull does a terrible job</b>.<br />
As you can tell by the fact that the gang get up to some crazy antics, <b>the plot gets distracted regularly</b>. There are needless diversions which just leave you groaning and wanting to tear your hair out. Till is infuriating, making everything harder, and if a characters only job is to interrupt the plot and make things harder it proves that the author doesn't know how to write decent obstacles.<br />
<b>Wull doesn't go through any real character development</b>. He faces a bad guy, and the bad guy just happens to fall backwards, onto his own knife, killing himself in the process!<br />
Of course! That's so feasible!<br />
He faces the mormorach and the bohdan inhabiting his Pappa decides to switch into the mormorach, so he avoids certain death. Till also sacrifices himself to save Wull's life, despite the fact that they've nearly gotten each other killed multiple times because they're both so stupid.<br />
I absolutely adored it when Wull was trying to save Till from certain death, and he said <b>"He's a pain an' he's rude, but he's my friend"</b>. No, he's not. Every single thing that Till does is directly against Wull's wishes, they argue all of the time and they have nothing in common. That's not friendship.<br />
Okay, I lied about Wull having no character development. <b>He's hardly affected when his Pappa dies</b>, which I guess is a huge metaphor for growing up and saying goodbye to things - like having your own dreams, and cherished family members.<br />
Meanwhile <b>Remedie, Bonn and Mix run into the night, never to be seen again</b>. That's closure for ya. Mix only becomes relevant two sentences before she disappears for good, so I feel as though it's their adventure was written with an open ending to allow for a sequel, to which I say PLEASE GOD, NO.<br />
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I hadn't heard of 'Riverkeep' until it was featured on the YA Book Prize shortlist, and I knew after the first couple of pages that it wasn't the kind of book I'd normally read.<br />
Reading this has proven how stubborn I am. I wanted to give up so many times, but I persisted and I can categorically say I haven't hated many books more than I hated this one.<br />
I need to learn how to DNF. </div>
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Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-35059464998553594112017-05-13T14:37:00.001-07:002017-05-13T14:37:28.317-07:00Non-fiction books perfect for YA readersRecently I've noticed that non-fiction for young adults seems to be getting more popular. There are definitely more titles on offer, that's for sure!<br />
As someone who has been reading a lot of non-fiction for the last couple of years, I thought I'd take the opportunity to showcase ten of the best titles I've read and talk about ten of the books that I just can't wait to get my hands on.<br />
I don't review non-fiction titles in-depth because there aren't many I don't like, but that means I forget to tell you guys all about the ones that I've deeply loved.<br />
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This is non-fiction at its best: not only are they educational and informative, they're also entertaining and absorbing.<br />
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10) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015RG21DA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B015RG21DA&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=d3b23a5b7afdc6a30d10cb9a6c6848cd" target="_blank">'Mind Your Head'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=B015RG21DA" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Juno Dawson<br />
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<img alt="Image result for mind your head dawson" height="400" src="https://53dde335a2dce2ca942c-498c68ea2e9d4fdb160dd89f86b552f2.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/v1/large/9781/4714/9781471405310.jpg" width="260" /><br />
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I'm cheating by recommending 'Mind Your Head', because I haven't actually read it completely yet. I got about halfway through, and it featured some advice that I'd never heard before and helped get me into a better place, so I decided to save the rest of the book in case I needed a pick me up in the future!</div>
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9) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1471403904/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1471403904&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=885df3c3f767254949db9bbf0cc63c95" target="_blank">'Being a Girl'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1471403904" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Hayley Long<br />
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Both 'Mind Your Head' and 'Being a Girl' are illustrated by Gemma Correll, and that's what attracted me to this title in the first place: I only read it last year, so at 20 I knew nearly everything featured already! I read both the UK and US versions so that I could compare and contrast them, which was fascinating - the US versions celebrated a lot of inspirational women I'd never heard of before, which shows how you only learn some aspects of history by being part of the population of that country.</div>
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8) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0752883062/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0752883062&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=75449e3310d698321697617ff8ffff97" target="_blank">'PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=0752883062" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> collected by Frank Warren<br />
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PostSecret is an ongoing mail art project in which people write confessions on postcards and send them in. This means it's perfect for young people to read: not only does it put your worries and fears into perspective, it's an easy and fast read. </div>
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7) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0751562491/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0751562491&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=b340cccc7f5e720a32c12f1beae89588" target="_blank">'You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=0751562491" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Felicia Day<br />
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I didn't know much about Felicia Day when I picked up this book, but my friend told me I'd love it and she was right. Felicia paved the way for geek girls everywhere, so I owe her a lot!<br />
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6) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785032720/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785032720&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=2fe3a3f8c732d25fb09381d6597f1515" target="_blank">'Ctrl, Alt; Delete: How I Grew Up Online'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1785032720" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Emma Gannon<br />
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Continuing on with the theme of women on the internet, I absolutely loved Emma Gannon's reflections on growing up online. You'll laugh, you'll cringe, and you'll see yourself reflected in every page.<br />
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5) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/147114920X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=147114920X&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=415aa35526b4aa8417917457d609402f" target="_blank">'Everyday Sexism'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=147114920X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Laura Bates<br />
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I want this book to become required reading in schools. It's such an honest exploration of the difficulties that women face every day just because of their gender.<br />
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4) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0349008450/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0349008450&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=094b2811451a66a6df9493bbdc403e85" target="_blank">'I Call Myself A Feminist'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=0349008450" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
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This features essays from women under 30, so it's very relevant to young readers - even more so when you discover it has a contribution from Louise O'Neill! </div>
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3) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1471149501/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1471149501&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=73e8baf2a6fac787074c64dfa700481d" target="_blank">'Girl Up'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1471149501" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Laura Bates<br />
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Everything Laura releases is gold. I couldn't resist recommending another of her releases: they're both utterly wonderful, and if you know nothing about feminism or why it's necessary, this is the perfect place to start. </div>
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2) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1472119738/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1472119738&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=8aef7e3abe96eec0df35581f9677b105" target="_blank">'Bad Feminist'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1472119738" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Roxane Gay<br />
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You won't be able to stop yourself laughing out loud while you read 'Bad Feminist'. Roxane Gay is a hilarious writer, but she's not afraid to tackle serious topics too: there's something in this collection for everyone. </div>
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1) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1526360039/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1526360039&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=91a31e6fd4d9c060efeb57e5dd48fe11" target="_blank">'Doing It!: Let's Talk About Sex'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1526360039" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Hannah Witton<br />
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<img alt="Image result for doing it hannah witton" height="400" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41zYB7pUjKL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="265" /></div>
Hannah's book is the inspiration behind this post. I finished it yesterday and I ADORED every single page, and it's another book that I want to recommend to everyone! She's open and easy to relate to: I just want her to be my best friend.<br />
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Now, for the non-fiction releases that I NEED to read RIGHT NOW:<br />
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10) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785781162/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785781162&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=646516f4c643f82ef1261a824dd22031" target="_blank">'Jane Austen, the Secret Radical'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1785781162" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Helena Kelly<br />
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<img alt="Image result for jane austen the secret radical" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DNpddmTe-UM/WHZFxEZg8MI/AAAAAAAAX8I/ChFtXCA5AJ0FFJrf3ek5jGQPrFzmzz4LACLcB/s400/Jane%2BAusten%2Bthe%2Bsecret%2Bradical_.jpg" width="260" /></div>
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If you're told to read classics but you think Jane Austen's boring, you just need to learn more about her. I haven't read this just yet, so I don't know how dense it is, but it definitely looks appealing. </div>
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9) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1472151119/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1472151119&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=16143d08d3cceeae3a49a74434fd73aa" target="_blank">'Hunger'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1472151119" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Roxane Gay<br />
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I absolutely adored 'Bad Feminist' (as you can probably guess by the fact that I just recommended it!) and I can't wait to read more of Roxane's non-fiction writing. </div>
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8) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1780226586/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1780226586&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=5c6261b6c0d9385f15207849fa0dce5f" target="_blank">'I Am Malala'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1780226586" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Malala Yousafzai<br />
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<img alt="Image result for i am malala" src="http://media.hdp.hbgusa.com/coverimages/9780316322409/" height="400" width="258" /></div>
I'm fascinated by Malala's story. Anyone who can go through what she did and come out stronger on the other side is an inspirational role model.<br />
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7) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1473648580/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1473648580&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=52f94b718936c995fe3419585e4a16d9" target="_blank">'The Gender Games'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1473648580" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Juno Dawson<br />
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<img alt="Image result for juno dawson gender games" height="400" src="https://cdn.waterstones.com/bookjackets/large/9781/4736/9781473648586.jpg" width="254" /></div>
I love Juno Dawson's novels and I love non-fiction, so combining them is my dream. I can't wait to read Juno's observations on gender, because she definitely knows what she's talking about.<br />
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6) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1526360519/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1526360519&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=69b5a68d5e252222051685ab5d21cd66" target="_blank">'Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1526360519" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Rachel Ignotofsky<br />
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<img alt="Image result for women in science book" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/612hAWGLFDL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /><br />
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Historically, women's contributions to science have been attributed to their male colleagues and brushed under the carpet. It's about time someone gave them the recognition they deserved. </div>
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5) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1452153930/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1452153930&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=b7637b45cc9b1c2a3e5b70523597b708" target="_blank">'Bad Girls Throughout History'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1452153930" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Ann Shen<br />
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I love the art style on the cover of 'Bad Girls Throughout History'. I'm excited about this for the same reason I'm looking forward to reading 'Women in History' - I want to learn about more women who've done amazing things but aren't appreciated or widely known about. </div>
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4) 'It's All In Your Head' by Rae Earl<br />
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'It's All In Your Head' was only announced this morning, but I NEED to get my shit together so it's going to offer me some helpful advice. </div>
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3) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0399548602/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0399548602&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=81c8eb9cfbfb0fcc45f139841dfacc9b" target="_blank">'Girling Up'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=0399548602" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Mayim Bialik<br />
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Who doesn't love The Big Bang Theory? Not many people know that Mayim Bialik, who plays Amy, actually has a PhD - she doesn't just pretend to be smart, she's the smartest person on the show! I think this is going to be a brilliant title: women who work in STEM are fighting a losing battle, so they need more encouragement. </div>
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2) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/014198600X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=014198600X&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=e10792c01c283e73fb12e914d59ae57c" target="_blank">'Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls'</a> by Elena Favilli<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=014198600X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
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<img alt="Image result for goodnight stories for rebel girls" height="400" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1532/7563/products/Rebel-Girls-homepage-four-books_530x.png?v=1493138445" width="400" /><br />
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'Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls' was funded <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/good-night-stories-for-rebel-girls-books-women#/">through IndieGOGO</a>, raising 1689% of its target, so it's safe to say that this was highly anticipated! It tells the history of inspirational women as though they were bedtime tales, but because they're completely true it's extremely educational. </div>
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1) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1616205865/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1616205865&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=f98ec22b7748b24ea32f906939d52cc8" target="_blank">'Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1616205865" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> edited by Kelly Jensen<br />
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This collection is stuffed to the brim with contributors that I admire: Roxane Gay, Nova Ren Suma, Kody Keplinger, Siobhan Vivien, Amandla Stenberg... Need I go on? I know for a fact that I'm going to absolutely love 'Here We Are', I just need to get hold of a copy!<br />
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Are you a fan of non-fiction? If so, leave your recommendations down below - I can't wait to check them out!</div>
Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-69804776345267499372017-05-12T05:33:00.002-07:002017-05-12T05:33:40.275-07:00'The Smell of Other People's Houses' by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b>'I remember my dad saying that sometimes you can be inserted into another person's life just by witnessing something you were never really supposed to be a part of.'</b></blockquote>
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<b>'I can't stop remembering the ways things were <i>back then</i>.'</b></blockquote>
The novel starts with a prologue narrated by Ruth, who's looking back at 1958-1963: before her father died, before her mother went AWOL, before Ruth and her sister Lily were sent to live with their strict Catholic grandmother. <br />
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Ruth is only one of the four narrators we follow, and we follow her as she loses her virginity to her boyfriend, Ray, who dumps her for the new girl just before she finds out she's pregnant.<br />
Dora is living with her best friend's family, escaping from her abusive, alcoholic father and the mother who failed to defend her.<br />
Alyce wants to be a dancer, but she's going to miss the auditions for college because she's spending the summer helping her father and uncle on their fishing boat.<br />
Hank and his brothers, Sam and Jack, are stowing away on a ferry which they hope will take them to a place far, far away from their mother and her new boyfriend. It all seems to be going swimmingly, until Sam disappears...<br />
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<b>There is nothing bad about this book</b>. I was emotionally invested in all four of the narrators, and I didn't get bored during any of their viewpoints. I liked the fact that it switched between them fairly regularly because I wanted to know what was going on with the other three character's story lines, but I also wanted to stay with each of them. <b>Within a couple of chapters they all felt like friends</b>, and I would have happily read the entire novel following any of them.<br />
I've never read a book set in Alaska before, and <b>I adored the attention to detail</b> as Bonnie-Sue built the landscape and the scenery from the ground up. The description of the flood that the characters experienced when they were younger was particularly artful: I live in an area of high ground so I've never lived through a flood, but it evoked all of my senses (particularly the sense of smell: my nose was wrinkling up just thinking about the musty, mildewed dampness!). I also adored the references to the leaves on the trees, as Alaska is stereotypically described as a barren landscape with nothing but snow - it's nice to get a feel of the place from someone who actually knows it. <b>It's an #ownvoices novel</b>, as Bonnie-Sue herself is from Alaska and grew up around the time that the book is set: in the questions and answers section at the end of my edition she shared that she'd borrowed some of the stories from people she knew growing up, and it's obvious because <b>it's utterly realistic</b>.<br />
<b>Normally I would give spoilers</b> and go into what happened to each of the characters, <b>but the charm of this book is seeing how it all develops so I'm not going to do that</b>. Just know that all of the stories are intertwined, and even if someone seems like a background character at first you should keep them in mind. It's breathtakingly beautiful, and <b>I find it hard to believe that this is a debut novel</b>. Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock was born to write, and I need her to release another book NOW.<br />
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I only wanted to read this book because it's not often I encounter a character with the same name as me. I've actually only met one before, and they were a background character, so to actually meet an Alyce with a point of view perspective was awesome.<br />
Would I have picked up this book if it hadn't been for that? I don't know. But I am SO GLAD that Bonnie-Sue decided to use my name on one of her characters, because it's helped my discover one of my favourite books of all time.<br />
I borrowed this from the library, but I'm definitely going to have to purchase my own copy. I read it in one sitting because I was that hooked by the writing style and the plot, but I wish I'd savoured it and really enjoyed every word. I've only just returned it, but I already want to read it again!<br />
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Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-81664353540832917022017-05-11T11:02:00.000-07:002017-05-11T11:02:43.048-07:00TRAVEL THURSDAY: The Great Reef of AustraliaIt's time for AJ to tell you about another one of his wonderful adventures. After visiting the <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2017/05/travel-thursday-putrid-whiff-of-rotorua.html">stinky heights of Rotorua</a> last week, this week he's sailing across the deep blue sea...<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rotorua wasn't the first tourist venue I visited. Late last year I enjoyed a trip across the Tasman Sea to Cairns, a Queenstown city closer to the Solomon Islands than to the state capital, Brisbane. Surrounded by jungle views and beautiful shimmering water, Cairns is the only place in the world where two UNESCO World Heritage sites are found side by side and - while I sadly missed out on a chance to stand between Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef - I did get to visit the latter. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I woke early in the morning and waited for a lift from my hostel, which would take me to the docks at Cairns. There, me and sixty other people boarded a Tusa Diving boat.</span></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of me fellow passengers, taken on the brand new GoPro I purchased exclusively for this trip</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As I was travelling alone I felt inclined to mingle as we headed to the reef; make friends with strangers and get to learn the stories of others. There was an old Californian couple who had recently retired and wanted to get away from the States for a bit (at least until the whole "Donald Trump" thing subsided), a stocky German lad named Paul, an English couple who were more than happy to discuss football, and two gorgeous Canadian girls - Emily and Lanette - who were in Australia for a work holiday. My experience with Cairns, having lived near there previously, is that the locals rarely visit the reef unless it's literally their job, and this seemed to be backed up with not a single Australian on-board.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As we were approaching Hastings Reef, our dive spot of the day, I was pulled aside with Paul and another man, and we were given a crash course on diving. I had never done it before, and I figured I might as well lose my virginity at the world's most famous reef, right? </span></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view as we approached Hastings Reef</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, I am a naturally anxious person, so in hindsight diving was probably not a good investment. The instructor took us down 20 meters below water, and already I was starting to feel incredibly claustrophobic and trapped. All my instincts were telling me to float to the top, but with the extra weights they'd put on me I couldn't. I started freaking out. Anxiety attacks are bad enough when they happen above water: that far underwater they are potentially lethal. Desperately I pointed up and my instructor inflated the emergency floater bags on my diving suit, and in no time at all I was back in the open. I gasped for air and got out of the water, shaking and breathing jagged. Diving was no longer as exciting as I thought it would be.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sadly this is a fact with anxiety. Sometimes it tampers with beautiful experiences. I wasn't going to let it suck my fun away, though. I grabbed a snorkel and joined the members of my travel team who had decided not to dive, and I just swam. I'd never been snorkeling before either, and it took awhile for me to get past my natural instinct of bobbing my head out of the water every second stroke. Once I conquered that, it was absolutely beautiful.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hastings Reef is one of the most pristine parts of the Great Barrier Reef system, and it shows. My eyes were treated to a beautiful array of colours in the coral, with schools of clown fish bobbing up every so often. Not only did I find Nemo, I also found sea turtles, parrot fish and a gorgeously yellow butterfly fish. I even got up close to a shark (albeit a harmless reef shark!). I got lost in this new world I was discovering, and just as I was getting into it we had to leave.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The way home was the most fun I've ever had on a boat. I sat at the front of the boat, outside, with the English couple and the Canadians, and the conversations we were having about the reef, what we saw and how we need to help save it were compelling. While we were snorkeling the wind had picked up significantly, meaning that the waves were way choppier than they were coming in. After twenty minutes, once we hit speed, we started to feel the effects of that. The boat was getting some good air every 20 seconds, like being on your own rollercoaster. Our conversation stopped and we focused on the upcoming waves as we got good air between our buttocks and the seats every time we hit a massive one. The g-force and general excitement of what was happening was incredibly fun and exhilarating - not least because Emily decided to cling to me, as I was the closest thing to grab on to! After some time it became too dangerous to stay outside and the weather started to look upsetting, so we adjourned back inside and played a round of cards while we waited to arrive in Cairns. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All credit to Tusa Dives, they were more than happy to refund me for not doing a dive and they were fantastic assistance through my anxiety attack. My decision not to go head with the dive is not one I regret. I still got to see a beautiful wonder of the world without spending an insubordinate amount of funds, and I've got stories to tell.</span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As we arrived in Cairns we heard the news of two people <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/two-dead-at-the-great-barrier-reef-report-20161116-gsqi7k.html">suffering heart attacks</a> while diving at another reef just moments before, so perhaps I felt a little less guilty about pulling out at that point. While I do hold some regret for not getting past my fears on that day, I am incredibly pleased with what I did do. Perhaps one day in the future, now that I know what to expect, I will return to the reef and dive properly. I just hope the conservation efforts work, and this beautiful world can survive.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org.au/donate/save-the-reef?bucket=Donation&src=GPPBR-DON&gclid=CMPjoa-q4dMCFY2WvQodKbYHtQ">Donate here</a> to help save the Great Barrier Reef.</span> </blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the best picture you get of the reef: the GoPro died before I went in the water! </td></tr>
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A big thank you to AJ, for sharing another of his travel stories with us. I've always wanted to visit the Great Barrier Reef, so I'm definitely going to donate to the conservation efforts.</div>
Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-22257635865830967962017-05-11T01:31:00.003-07:002017-05-11T01:31:48.304-07:00ALBUM REVIEW: Heartwork - Things I Wish I'd Said<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b>Heartwork</b>'s debut album has been a long time coming. The project was fully funded by fans through Kickstarter just over a year ago and, thanks to a few delays during recording, it's being released next Friday (May 19th). </div>
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Because of the wait <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-bootleg-sessions-heartwork.html">an EP called 'The Bootleg Sessions'</a> was released back in August to tide fans over, featuring alternate versions of five of the songs on this album. This review will compare the finished versions of those songs with the versions we're already familiar with, while also investigating the previously unheard tracks.</div>
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Opener '<b>Every Thorn</b>' is brave. It starts off with a You Me At Six vibe, reminiscent of 'Too Young To Feel This Old': if you're a fan of them, you must check this song out. Dan O'Dell is a brilliant lyricist, and as he croons, "Serotonin and alcohol go hand in hand, until you've had one too many" it makes you laugh bitterly because of how true it is. The ending of the song is remarkably intimate: stripped back and untouched, it throws you straight into the recording studio with him.<br />
Compared with the odd mix released on 'The Bootleg Sessions', '<b>Butterfly</b>' is a completely different song. Whereas before it was skippable, the finished version has an intensity which gets more intriguing with each listen. The riff is spellbinding, while Dan's soft and breathy vocal doesn't appear on any other song on the album. It's so quiet at points that you have to strain to pick out the words, but that's a good thing: it's mesmerizing and impossible to ignore.<br />
Smoothly transitioning into '<b>The Right Thing</b>' (featuring a guest appearance from Ben Sydes of B-Sydes, whose rougher voice nicely complements Dan's) it wouldn't sound out of place on any mainstream rock release. If you're a fan of Deaf Havana, head straight for this one. The power behind Dan's vocal during the rising chorus rivals that of James Veck-Gilodi, while the folk-style guitar riff is perfect for dancing to and will work wonderfully in a live environment. It's musically complex, combining classic rock and indie elements in a skillful blend and embodying the width of Dan's appeal. There's something in this song for everyone.<br />
'<b>Achilles Friend</b>' sounds much the same until it reaches the chorus, where the full band bursts in and exponentially strengthens it. The layered guitar lines with the "oh, oh, oh" echo in the background of the chorus add an upbeat vibe to a song that sounded purely melancholy in the past. This song lends the album its title - Dan pondering the things he wished he'd said to an old friend after returning to his hometown - but it works nicely with the more hopeful atmosphere. Everyone loses touch with old friends and that's not always a bad thing.<br />
'<b>Water</b>' is difficult to listen to. The raw emotion that Dan pours into the song cuts to the core, and the full band backing makes it utterly powerful, sending shivers down my spine throughout the build-up to that dramatic crescendo. With Dan screaming, "I'm doing fine!" before sarcastically asking, "Can you not tell?"... There's a reason this song makes me cry every time I listen to it.<br />
Following it up with a song that's just as emotional but understated, '<b>Playing Dead</b>' would fit perfectly on one of the earlier Heartwork EPs. Admitting, "I can't remember the last time I felt I was feeling better than what I feel now," if you've ever struggled, you're going to relate to this song more than you'd think physically possible. It's blunt, open and honest. This album has deeply confessional moments, and this is one of the most raw.<br />
'<b>I Was Building An Empire</b>' shows just how vital the full band is to this release. Before it was rather bland and forgettable, the intricacy of the lyrics wasted on a song that faded into the background, but the absorbing drumbeat and multiple guitars add a necessary depth that elevate it to another level.<br />
'<b>Paper & Bones</b>' and '<b>Saintlike</b>' are the two longest songs on the album, both coming in at just over five minutes. '<b>Paper & Bones</b>' is furiously paced, featuring a riff reminiscent of The Killers and a catchy as heck chorus as Dan sings "I can't pretend I hate to say I told you so", which directly contrasts with '<b>Saintlike</b>', the most stripped back song on the album. It's a beautiful love song, tender and touching.<br />
'<b>Dashboard Confrontational</b>'<b> </b>is a powerful end to the album. I'm not sure how I feel about the full band featuring on this song, because I love the stripped-back sound of the previous version - part of the charm of it was how simplistic it was, and it loses some of that magic after being filled out - but it's much stronger with some layers. It might take me a little while to get used to it, though!<br />
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Looking at the album as a whole, I can say this for certain: it's accomplished. The rises and falls take you on an emotional journey that hits close to your heart.<br />
It's been difficult to review this album because of how deeply it affected me. I've played it all the way through a few times now, and I still find myself sobbing at multiple points throughout. Not many artists move me like that anymore: there's something remarkably special about Heartwork.<br />
Dan knows how to put every depressed and painful emotion you've ever felt - every dark thought you've ever had - into words. It's impossible not to connect to 'Things I Wish I'd Said', and I sincerely recommend giving it a spin: you'll find at least one song which will tell the story of your life.<br />
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<b>Tracklist:</b><br />
Every Thorn<br />
Butterfly<br />
The Right Thing (ft. Ben Sydes)<br />
Achilles Friend<br />
Water<br />
Playing Dead<br />
I Was Building An Empire<br />
Paper & Bones<br />
Saintlike<br />
Dashboard ConfrontationalAlyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-16181109391387807902017-05-10T02:13:00.002-07:002017-05-10T02:13:38.294-07:00TOP FIVE WEDNESDAY: Top five books to use as themes<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">(Top Five Wednesday was created by </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/gingerreadslainey" style="font-family: "times new roman";">GingerReadsLainey</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">. Find out more at the </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/118368-top-5-wednesday" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Goodreads group</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Sometimes people use films or TV shows as themes for parties, but it's not often that books are used (unless it's Harry Potter related!). These five books would make brilliant themes for parties, and I'm tempted to organise some of them myself...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">5) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006KWAKDE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B006KWAKDE&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=cc8951db246df2674a65218798d2a94e" target="_blank">'The Selection' by Kiera Cass</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=B006KWAKDE" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for the selection cass" height="400" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54dec8b3e4b0d191d4ffbf51/t/553d9b60e4b0bd2bbd4098e5/1430100844804/" width="265" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I'm not suggesting you organise a party in which all of your friends compete for the same guy, but hosting a party with 'The Selection' as a theme is a great excuse for everyone to wear their fancy clothing. Everything is huge, poofy dresses and tuxedos, and everyone looks dapper as heck. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">4) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0008167907/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0008167907&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=7aabe814c282f881143094c8e6e851cd" target="_blank">'Divergent' by Veronica Roth</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=0008167907" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for divergent book cover" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dipXdu9QryU/TIupjzY1vsI/AAAAAAAAAh8/9EC03NOMqWs/s400/Divergent+hc+c(2).jpg" width="263" /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">You start the night with a quiz which gets you sorted into a faction, then you compete in games against each other to see which team wins. This also works with Harry Potter houses, The Hunger Games districts, and probably thousands more... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">3) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GIUG3ES/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B00GIUG3ES&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=fd23238f794b4635f04549a4dc896eea" target="_blank">'Red Rising' by Pierce Brown</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=B00GIUG3ES" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for red rising pierce brown" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1461354651l/15839976.jpg" height="400" width="261" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I don't want people to take this suggestion literally - don't start oppressing people at parties, that's rude! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">A 'Red Rising' theme could work if you were arranging a bigger party which had hired staff. Because the staff are the workers they can wear red, a bright and vibrant colour that makes it easy to seek them out if any problems arise. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">If this theme was used at a birthday party, the person being celebrated could be the only one wearing gold. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">The rest of the guests can choose which colour they feel they most relate to (I'd definitely be in purple, as I think of myself as a creative type!). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">2) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1409590305/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1409590305&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=0b64e3cd8f28e2b126dbfa4f059275f6" target="_blank">'Am I Normal Yet?' by Holly Bourne</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1409590305" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for am i normal yet" height="400" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51rOf09we3L._SX326_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="262" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Make your own Spinster Club! Get a group of people together to talk about feminism. Bring along your favourite sexist news article from the previous week so that you can mock the uneducated journalist who wrote it, and the ridiculousness of the publication that would feature such an idiotic piece. Just be awesome. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">1) <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1407149075/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1407149075&linkCode=as2&tag=everyalyce-21&linkId=e1606c3f64ae683182e317e4e9932827" target="_blank">'To All the Boys I've Loved Before' by Jenny Han</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=everyalyce-21&l=am2&o=2&a=1407149075" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for to all the boys i've loved before jenny han" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1372086100l/15749186.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Has one of your friends recently had a bad break up? Know someone going through a divorce? Well, a 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before' themed party would be perfect for you!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Lara Jean writes letters to the boys she loves, but she never gives them over. It's a way of getting her feelings out on paper, and it makes it easier for her to deal with her emotions. Everyone at the party gets a piece of paper, a pen and an envelope, and once they've written and sealed their letters they all go into a fire. It's cathartic!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I hope you enjoyed this Top Five Wednesday! Do you think you're going to try to host any of the parties I've suggested?</span></div>
Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-44669243510423160892017-05-09T03:21:00.004-07:002017-05-09T03:21:52.663-07:00'The Dry' by Jane Harper - SPOILER REVIEWWay back in January, I took part in <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2017/01/blog-tour-dry-by-jane-harper-spoiler.html">'The Dry' blog tour</a>, and I loved it so much that I told you I was going to be posting a spoiler-filled review.<br />
Well, it might have taken me nearly four months, but HERE IT IS! This book has still been playing on my mind, but I haven't had the time to review it more thoroughly: hopefully this post is worth the wait...<br />
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<img alt="Image result for the dry by jane harper" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1456113132l/27824826.jpg" height="400" width="261" /><br />
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'The Dry' tells two stories at once. </div>
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The primary focus is the deaths of Luke, Karen and Billy Hadler, who appear to have been wiped out by Luke in a murder-suicide. The Kiewarra townsfolk claim that Luke had a violent temper and that, combined with the fact that his farm was failing due to a two-year drought, caused him to kill the people closest to him from sheer desperation.</div>
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Federal Police Investigator Aaron Falk was best friends with Luke Hadler when they were younger, and he can't believe that the man he knew could do something that horrendous. But once upon a time Aaron was suspected of being involved in the death of their mutual friend Ellie Deacon, and looking back at the fact that Luke gave him an alibi Aaron starts to wonder if he was saving his own skin all along.</div>
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When Aaron gets back to Kiewarra, he reunites with Gretchen, the fourth member of their friendship group and the woman who used to be Luke's girlfriend. She also can't accept that Luke could have been responsible for killing his family: he wasn't that kind of person. Aaron and Gretchen grow close, but he has his suspicions.<br />
Why did her and Luke break up? And just who is the father of her little boy?<br />
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<b>If you haven't read 'The Dry' look away now! </b>If you couldn't guess by the disclaimer in the title, it's about to get spoilery up in 'ere...<br />
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<b>I was 100,000,000,000% convinced that Gretchen was the killer</b>.<br />
<b>EVERY SINGLE HINT pointed in her direction</b>. The way she focused on Aaron as soon as he gets back to town with an interest that made me instantly suspicious. Her dismissive attitude towards conversations about her relationship with Luke, and the murmurs around town that he was having trouble with a woman. The mystery of who fathered her child.<br />
Then there was the fact that she had a rivalry with Ellie back when they were teenagers, and was the only person not suspected at the time...<br />
<b>From the moment we met Gretchen, I KNEW it was her</b>. It was disappointing, because it was so obvious and totally cliched.<br />
So imagine my surprise when <b>I WAS WRONG! I'm NEVER wrong</b>, so it was a huge shock and a brilliant twist that made me look at the book in a whole new light.<br />
Everyone in town assumed that the murders were either committed by Luke or happened because of him: he was known for his regular arguments with the Deacons - tensions still simmering following Ellie's death - and was widely known to have issues with his temper.<br />
That's what makes it even more shocking when you discover <b>the family was destroyed because of Karen</b>. She's described in such an inoffensive manner - always playing by the rules, nice and friendly to everyone - that it's difficult to comprehend she could have gotten on someone's bad side, but <b>it happens BECAUSE she always plays by the rules</b>.<br />
She worked as a receptionist at the school, and she discovered that <b>her gambling-addict of a boss had been stealing money</b>. She couldn't let it slide, and after she'd spoken to him - notifying him of the fact that she knew what he's done - she told Luke who suggested contacting Aaron, who deals with finances in his role as police officer. Aaron didn't answer, but <b>Whitlam knew Karen wouldn't be able to keep his activities to herself for long, so he had no choice but to kill her </b>and Luke (and Billy, who stayed home ill, missing a playdate that Whitlam had orchestrated to get him out of the firing line).<br />
<b>The conclusion is climactic as HECK</b>, with the cornered Whitlam threatening to start a bushfire to escape justice, putting the lives of every member of Kiewarra in danger - including his child and his wife. It's a brilliant exploration of the way desperation sends you extreme lengths, and how <b>people can justify the most disgusting of acts to save their own skin</b>.<br />
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If you're looking to read a thriller that not only keeps you gripped, but explores the human condition and has a realistically depicted setting, 'The Dry' is perfect for you.<br />
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I hope you enjoyed this spoiler-filled review. Do you prefer to get spoilers, or would you rather find out what happened for yourself?</div>
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Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-30562942408988113282017-05-09T02:43:00.002-07:002017-05-09T02:43:19.170-07:00TOP TEN TUESDAY: Ten things on my reading wishlist<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">(Top Ten Tuesday was created by </span><a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/" style="font-family: "times new roman";">The Broke and The Bookish</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">We all have things we really like reading. Whether it's a specific type of character, a plot point or a setting, it's something that you like so much that you want to read it more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I'd like to see more of all ten of these things in YA. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">10) Standalones </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for the art of being normal" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2B5Ck8mCXL.jpg" width="211" /><img alt="Image result for the darkest part of the forest" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1397755014l/20958632.jpg" height="320" width="214" /><img alt="Image result for the yellow room vallance" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1458251804l/27809137.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I love standalones, but I feel they're much more common in contemporary YA than SFF. I guess it's because authors don't want to craft entire new worlds for just one release! I'd definitely like it if there were more, though - I enjoy sci-fi and fantasy, but sometimes I don't want the commitment of starting a new series. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">9) Contemporary trilogies</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for jenny han to all the boys i've loved before" height="320" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1372086100l/15749186.jpg" width="212" /><img alt="Image result for jenny han burn for burn" height="320" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1332791803l/13406425.jpg" width="211" /><img alt="Image result for jenny han summer i turned pretty" height="320" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361666855l/5821978.jpg" width="211" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">As well as wanting more standalones from other branches of YA, I'd love it if there were more contemporary trilogies. The only other contemporary series I can think of are either companion novels or hundreds of thousands of books long (*cough* Pretty Little Liars *cough* Gossip Girl *cough cough cough*), but I love being able to revisit characters and see how their lives are getting on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">8) YA from other countries</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for world map" height="238" src="http://geology.com/world/world-map.gif" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I read UKYA and USYA, and sometimes dive down under for AusYA, but it's difficult to find YA books written and set in other countries. I'd love to be able to read YA from places all across the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">7) Non-fiction for teenagers</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for doing it hannah witton cover" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41zYB7pUjKL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="212" /><img alt="Image result for being a girl hayley long" height="320" src="https://lr-assets.storage.googleapis.com/kids/covers/_hires_imported/9781471403903.jpg" width="208" /><img alt="Image result for mind your head juno dawson" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51-iq-XCb0L._SX324_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="209" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I'm a huge fan of non-fiction (hence the fact I'm currently slogging my way through Simone de Beauvoir's tome, 'The Second Sex') but I often find it difficult to talk about on the blog because not many young adult readers enjoy the density of adult non-fiction titles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">That's why I love these three, and hope that more like them are released in the future. They're informative, educational and - most importantly - fun, which makes it easy to remember the vital information they contain. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">6) Summer soundtracks</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Image result for soundtrack tumblr" height="400" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/da/bb/89/dabb8944ab1d14f4b0f74511cb6b12dd.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="276" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image found on Pinterest</td></tr>
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If you couldn't guess by the fact that this is both a music- and book-related blog, music is my second love. I adore it when the two cross over, but they don't often come together in a brilliant way: either the band's music isn't described AT ALL, so you have no idea what they sound like, or the book is awful and taints the music mentioned with bad memories.<br />
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More casual references to songs played through novels, please! </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">5</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">) Quest plots</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Image result for quest plot" src="http://eleganthack.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Plot_Quest.jpg" height="376" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credit to Eleganthack</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I LOVE a classic quest plot. Characters go on a journey to do a thing, then return home at the end of the novel. The only time I've recently encountered a quest plot was in Alex Wheatle's 'Crongton Knights', which I absolutely ADORED. More please! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">4) Bisexual characters</span><br />
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<img alt="Image result for bisexual" src="http://fenwayfocus.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/bisexual-e1452713661563.jpg" height="248" width="400" /><br />
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Being bisexual, I'm often frustrated by the lack of bisexual representation. Bisexual people are not easy, and they're not sluts: just because they're attracted to people of both genders, it doesn't mean they're necessarily going to sleep with everyone they meet!</div>
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All I want is a book with a bisexual protagonist that feels like a welcoming space. Not like 'Run' by Kody Keplinger, which was attacked by professional reviewers; not like 'Ramona Blue' by Julie Murphy, which is being attacked by lesbians for erasure of their sexuality (who are directly erasing mine with their hurtful comments).</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">3) Polyamorous relationships</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for polyamorous" src="http://www.alternet.org/sites/default/files/styles/story_image/public/story_images/screen_shot_2015-07-19_at_2.10.12_pm.png?itok=746B0IEt" height="206" width="320" /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I can only think of one example of a polyamorous relationship in YA, and I didn't really enjoy the representation of it. It might have been because the book is general was flat, and the author was also attempting to explore asexuality in one of the members of the trio, but it was a huge disappointment. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Polyamory is a feasible alternative relationship model, and it would be good for teenagers to be able to read about it in YA and see how it works. </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">2) Asexuality </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for asexual flag" src="http://www.asexualityarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/AceFlag.png" height="240" width="400" /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I'm not asexual, but because I have asexual friends I think it would be great if they could find themselves represented in YA easily. There's a lot of confusion and misconceptions surrounding asexuality, and it would be nice if authors were willing to tackle that.<br />
<br />
1) #ownvoices<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image result for melissa de la cruz something in between" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1465622887l/30519159.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><img alt="Image result for the hate u give" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476533572l/32613366.jpg" height="320" style="text-align: left;" width="208" /><img alt="Image result for when dimple met rishi" height="320" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/netgalley-covers/cover100428-medium.png" style="text-align: left;" width="213" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This links into most of my other choices, but I can't get enough of #ownvoices authors. They deserve a special shout out, and I can't wait to see which new #ownvoices authors get signed by publishers in the coming months - it's exciting to read stories written by people who really know what they're talking about. </div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I hope you enjoyed this Top Ten Tuesday! What would you have on your reading wishlist?</span></div>
Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-53522072737951381472017-05-08T15:13:00.001-07:002017-05-08T15:17:35.335-07:00'Orangeboy' by Patrice Lawrence<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image result for orangeboy patrice lawrence" height="400" src="https://images.blog.whsmith.co.uk/9781444927207.jpg" width="255" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>*This review will contain spoilers!*</b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<b>'I laughed. "How many brain surgeons do you know from Hackney?"</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>She poked my back. "There may be some. Or you could be the first. You could really do that, Marlon." </b></blockquote>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Y5KXLJE2pA/WLlXmyzjdQI/AAAAAAAABtk/us6_cBZHTDcGoUcnFJc-vr602JVTS6eWgCPcB/s1600/back%2Bto%2Bthe%2Bstart.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Y5KXLJE2pA/WLlXmyzjdQI/AAAAAAAABtk/us6_cBZHTDcGoUcnFJc-vr602JVTS6eWgCPcB/s1600/back%2Bto%2Bthe%2Bstart.png" /></a></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>'Man, I couldn't stop looking at her. When I closed my eyes, I still saw her. Her hair was thick and blonde, and a curl looped over her ear to her shoulder. She wore black mascara and green eyeliner and her lips looked skin and sticky. </b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Sonya Wilson was right there next to me and it made my brain buzz.'</b></blockquote>
Being on his first date with the most popular girl in school wasn't the only thing making Marlon Isaac Asimov Sunday's brain buzz - the quarter of an ecstasy tablet she'd given him was having an effect, too.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tAf2IBsdqK0/WLlX-7M78HI/AAAAAAAABtk/OBSaQCpyBYwIi8h1DJP8qJtm8wyooKCJgCPcB/s1600/what%2Bwent%2Bdown.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tAf2IBsdqK0/WLlX-7M78HI/AAAAAAAABtk/OBSaQCpyBYwIi8h1DJP8qJtm8wyooKCJgCPcB/s1600/what%2Bwent%2Bdown.png" /></a></div>
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When Sonya, the gorgeous new girl, asks Marlon on a date, he can't believe his luck. After all of the trouble with his brother Andre, Marlon's been keeping his head down and focusing on his studies: he's not one of the tough kids leading the school. But it's paid off, and now he has a girl like Sonya on his arm.</div>
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They visit the local funfair, where Sonya offers him the ecstasy. He knows all of the cool kids would accept her offer, so he agrees - she's taking a quarter too, so it's not like he's doing it by himself - and they go on a couple of rides. Marlon spots some kids hassling Sonya, but when he asks her about it she dismisses him and pulls him towards the ghost train. </div>
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Sonya doesn't make it to the other side of the ride. When they get to the other side, Marlon notices that she's not breathing: she died during their journey. </div>
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Marlon finds it hard to cope with her death. Minutes earlier he'd been imagining their future together</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>'<i>If we have kids together, what will their hair look like?</i></b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<b><i>Kids? I haven't even kissed her yet.' </i></b></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
and now Sonya is dead and Marlon's getting quizzed by the police, because she asked him to look after her stash of ecstasy pills for her before they boarded the train. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The police aren't surprised to see another Sunday boy in their station. Andre - more commonly known as Booka - was heavily involved in the local gang scene until a car accident which left him brain damaged and his best friend dead. Marlon protests his innocence, but the police were certain he was guilty the second they discovered he was Andre's brother.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Marlon's mother is distraught. She doesn't want to be going through this with another son, so as soon as they get home she tells him to keep his act straight and to pretend he never met Sonya. He's haunted by her - the swish of her hair, her scent, the mustard-coated hotdog that was her last meal - and he can't believe she might have died because of the ecstasy: that he could have died, too, if he'd been unlucky.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Marlon feels as though his guilt will evaporate if he meets Sonya's grandmother, her primary carer. That way he can apologise for his involvement and try to explain the situation, so they won't think he was only with her to force her to take drugs.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Sonya's grandmother already knew about Sonya's involvement in drugs, so she isn't surprised by what Marlon tells her. She gives him Sonya's Blackberry - a different phone than the one Marlon knew she had - and by doing so sends his life spiraling out of control as he gets thrown in the deep end. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Marlon's right in the middle of a war Andre started, and he's going to have to finish it for him.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DgkhpuzxOuo/WLlXm1Y9JbI/AAAAAAAABtk/h7wsdpKi8cUKJz1kV0up9IPwIIHYS06OQCPcB/s1600/the%2Bgood%252C%2Bthe%2Bbad%2Band%2Bthe%2Bdirty.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DgkhpuzxOuo/WLlXm1Y9JbI/AAAAAAAABtk/h7wsdpKi8cUKJz1kV0up9IPwIIHYS06OQCPcB/s1600/the%2Bgood%252C%2Bthe%2Bbad%2Band%2Bthe%2Bdirty.png" /></a></div>
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I found this book quite slow, and<b> it became a chore to get through</b>. It's such a shame, because I was excited about this debut long before it hit the shelves... <b>I didn't read it at the best time</b> and that's my fault, not Patrice's! </div>
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That being said, <b>I'm glad working class YA is becoming more prominent</b>, especially as it's not being used as 'poverty porn'. Marlon's mum works in a library and has a well-off boyfriend, they have a lovely house: <b>Andre's involvement in the gangs didn't happen because of desperation</b>. It was a lifestyle choice. </div>
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After reading <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2017/04/liccle-bit-south-crongton-trilogy-1-by.html">'Liccle Bit' by Alex Wheatle</a> a couple of weeks ago, I said I loved the way that he compared<b> the relationship between gang members and family members</b>, and how the two are so closely linked. Patrice Lawrence also plays with this idea: D-Ice, who targets Marlon, is the brother of Tayz, the man who ran Andre off the road. D-Ice feels a misguided loyalty to his brother and resolves to tear Marlon's family apart - it's a harrowing look at the way grief affects your sense, and how <b>revenge is never the answer</b>. </div>
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I particularly appreciated<b> the inclusion of Andre's brain injury, which is extremely effective</b>. We're told he used to be top dog, the man everyone bowed down to, the kind who had a gun just in case. But because he wasn't wearing a seatbelt when he crashed, he now struggles with his memory and has episodes of uncontrollable rage, which is why he's confined to a care home. To see the contrast between who we're told he was and how he is now is heartbreaking, and <b>hammers home the importance of road safety </b>- it's not done in a preachy way, but it's not often that authors draw your attention to the character buckling their seatbelt, and it's <b>a small but effective way of reminding readers to do the same</b>. </div>
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However, I struggled with 'Orangeboy' because<b> it felt unfinished</b>. <b>The ending was extremely rushed</b>, and because the pacing throughout the first three quarters was so slow the sudden increase in speed gave me whiplash and had me rereading the page after every other paragraph. <b>Some things remained unexplored and unexplained</b>, which was frustrating: this would have been a far more effective standalone if everything had been wrapped up towards the conclusion, but I still have a lot of questions that haven't been answered. </div>
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Overall, this is<b> an effective and interesting debut</b>, but based off of the rave reviews I've seen I was expecting a little bit more. </div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4JG5igv4BPQ/WLlXm7NQp1I/AAAAAAAABtk/g-Yqo3GkCYwfSRpnfMgZTfdFgq_zpuRnACPcB/s1600/said%2Band%2Bdone.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4JG5igv4BPQ/WLlXm7NQp1I/AAAAAAAABtk/g-Yqo3GkCYwfSRpnfMgZTfdFgq_zpuRnACPcB/s1600/said%2Band%2Bdone.png" /></a></div>
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It's probably my fault that I didn't like this book as much as I was expecting to. I tried to speed read it in time for the #SundayYA book club chat last month (because I'd been slacking off even though I knew I had to read it) and that made me begrudging towards it. </div>
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Here's a lesson, kids: don't force yourself to read something you don't want to. </div>
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I really like Patrice's voice and the fact that she had no qualms about focusing on a very harrowing topic. I definitely like this more for reading it quite close to Alex Wheatle's Crongton series: despite the fact that series has a far more humorous tone, the unwilling involvement in gang war is a compelling narrative. </div>
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I'm looking forward to reading more from Patrice in the future (and hopefully giving this one a reread when I'm in a better place!). </div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gYWzFgTiIoc/WM-LAHBqO3I/AAAAAAAABuo/5Jyq32Q1os0aGXb4frSk4xMCImJhWZIFQCPcB/s1600/three%2Bstars.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gYWzFgTiIoc/WM-LAHBqO3I/AAAAAAAABuo/5Jyq32Q1os0aGXb4frSk4xMCImJhWZIFQCPcB/s1600/three%2Bstars.png" /></a></div>
Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-9227191293799332972017-05-07T11:09:00.000-07:002017-05-07T11:09:27.250-07:00WTF Did I Miss This Week? #31 (w/c 01/05/17)<b>The publishing world:</b><br />
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Say hello to all of the <b>new releases</b>!:<br />
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<img alt="Image result for lois lane triple threat" src="http://www.gwendabond.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CzkcJ7rUAAAhgBm.jpg-large.jpeg" height="320" width="214" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for always and forever lara jean" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474499092l/30312860.jpg" height="320" width="210" /><img alt="Image result for a court of war and ruin" src="http://sarahjmaas.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/ACOWAR_US.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></div>
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<img alt="Image result for into deep water hawkins" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1482243317l/33151808.jpg" height="320" width="212" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for one italian summer keris" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1488477669l/31322309.jpg" height="320" width="207" /><img alt="Image result for noah can't even" src="http://images.foyles.co.uk/xlarge/books/img/1/4/0/9781407179940.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></div>
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<img alt="Image result for countless gregory" src="http://media.bloomsbury.com/rep/bj/9781408882498.jpg" height="320" width="208" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for the fallen children owen goodreads" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476264904l/32594919.jpg" height="320" width="204" /><img alt="Image result for dreamfall plum" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476897565l/31371729.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></div>
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<img alt="Image result for rachel cohn kill all happies" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1472825369l/31823243.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for girl out of water silverman" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476883739l/29640839.jpg" height="320" width="213" /><img alt="Image result for noteworthy redgate" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473596922l/31447601.jpg" height="320" width="216" /></div>
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<img alt="Image result for and we're off schwartz" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476596362l/31707102.jpg" height="320" width="212" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for gwen cole cold summer" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1469200979l/25092254.jpg" height="320" width="209" /><img alt="Image result for just dreaming gier" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y7oV7jdnuwc/WAFKzuJDxBI/AAAAAAAAJOc/zyCujcQdHcE6IShcSjidfwISBveJuJHuQCLcB/s320/Dreaming.jpg" width="192" /></div>
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<img height="320" src="https://yawednesdays.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/05-02-17-count-all-her-bones.jpg" width="203" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for avenged tintera" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478731690l/31371242.jpg" height="320" width="210" /><img alt="Image result for how to make a wish herring blake" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1468465401l/26626118.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></div>
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<img alt="Image result for windfall smith" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473868084l/32048554.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for release patrick ness" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1485454954l/31194576.jpg" height="320" width="200" /><img alt="Image result for stealing candy stewart lewis" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1486907090l/31409118.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></div>
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<img alt="Image result for the battlemage matharu" src="http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/summoner-the-novice/images/3/33/Book_3_Cover.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20161130073040" height="320" width="214" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for four weeks five people" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478045713l/32336077.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><img alt="Image result for the pearl thief wein" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1482816001l/33613908.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></div>
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<img alt="Image result for say no to the bro hegelson" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1475180035l/26138376.jpg" height="320" width="212" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for the scattering mccreight" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1480527511l/31371234.jpg" height="320" width="212" /><img alt="Image result for rebel rising revis" height="320" src="https://ewedit.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/rebel-rising.jpg?w=450" width="213" /></div>
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<img alt="Image result for girlhood cat clarke" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/419OgK6BE2L._SX324_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="209" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for the circus olivia levez" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478805008l/32073075.jpg" height="320" width="208" /><img alt="The Heart Collector by [Salisbury, Melinda]" height="320" src="https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41PGu-D7RoL._SY346_.jpg" width="208" /><br />
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In <b>other news</b>: </div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;">Not strictly book related, but comic related and extremely exciting: Netflix released the first trailer for Marvel's 'The Defenders', coming August 18th:</li>
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<b>The music world:</b><br />
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Quite a few <b>new releases </b>(including some I missed last week - whoops!):<br />
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<img alt="Image result for makes me sick new found glory" src="http://www.altpress.com/images/uploads/news/newfoundglory_makesmesick.jpg" height="200" width="200" /><img alt="Image result for at the drive interalia" src="http://assets.blabbermouth.net.s3.amazonaws.com/media/atthedriveintercd.jpg" height="200" width="200" /><img alt="Image result for ghouls run" height="200" src="https://www.rocksound.tv/assets/uploads/ghouls_runartwork.jpg" width="200" /></div>
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<img alt="Image result for gnarwolves outsiders" src="http://diymag.com/media/img/Artists/G/Gnarwolves/_1500xAUTO_crop_center-center_75/unnamed-1.jpg" height="200" width="200" /><img alt="Image result for motionless in white graveyard shift album art" src="http://assets.blabbermouth.net.s3.amazonaws.com/media/motionlessinwhitegraveyardshiftcover.jpg" height="200" width="200" /><br />
<img height="200" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_CPofsXYAAJ5K-.jpg" width="200" /><img alt="Image result for mallory knox acoustic" src="http://68.media.tumblr.com/921c273ffc52da61fea5b880ccc62a95/tumblr_opgauhgWj41qjicebo1_1280.jpg" height="200" width="200" /><img alt="Image result for a lot like birds divisi" src="http://cdn-images.deezer.com/images/cover/1159b0f638fe035e838b53832957c270/1400x1400.jpg" height="200" width="200" /><br />
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I'm particularly excited about 'Unwired', <a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/mallory-knox-share-new-video-release-acoustic-ep">an acoustic EP</a> reworking five songs from <b>Mallory Knox</b>'s latest album. </div>
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Plug your headphones in and discover all of the <b>new music </b>from this week:</div>
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<b>PVRIS </b>took everyone to 'Heaven' with the first single from their new album, 'All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell', which is being released on the 4th of August:</div>
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<b>Paramore </b>'Told You So' that they'd be releasing more new material soon:</div>
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Goddammit, <b>Sum 41 </b>are dead again:<br />
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<b>Don Broco </b>are so... 'Pretty'...:</div>
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And <b>Mallory Knox </b>went to 'California' and found something special:<br />
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Also released this week, there were new tracks from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Hc-9w2vqE">CKY</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTUExzis2Jo">Nothing But Thieves</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voe0RwfZGww">Motionless in White</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqowVWu_4f0">Sorority Noise</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5SqDw3FY8o">AFI</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7krrRoJpT0">Haim</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B06qqB7bp-w">Bleachers</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muIxW9yjnMQ">Dreamcar</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkpAv1oqCMY">Beartooth</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22MWrWPV_QM">Skrillex</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm9dWLDAN2k">Lany</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J3Ngiw7RWw">Thrice</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYLTsdeO2uA">Papa Roach</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOb9kkPuFCM">State Champs</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG6Wr6UlVR0">Slipknot</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8S2EVU9NVQ">Doll Skin</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87gWaABqGYs">Ed Sheeran</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDIKVK6GDmg">Biffy Clyro</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LhN6E01Mkc">Halsey</a>, while <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsccVJm5sq8">Patent Pending</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aOy2lhSG_E">Veridian</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRvetFflsSE">This Wild Life</a> both released covers of vastly different songs!</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Some more exciting <b>tour announcements</b>:</div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Nothing But Thieves </b>are playing shows <a href="https://twitter.com/NBThieves/status/859694023333879808">across the UK</a> throughout May. Airways and Cortes are supporting. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Vanna </b>have released the dates for <a href="http://loudwire.com/vanna-break-up-announce-farewell-tour-dates/">their farewell tour</a>. They're playing shows across America in June and August; hopefully overseas dates are on their way. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Highly Suspect </b>added new dates to their American tour, playing <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HighlySuspect/photos/rpp.185902445436/10158650402855437/?type=3&theater">throughout July and August</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Bad Religion </b>are <a href="https://www.punknews.org/article/63745/tours-bad-religion-eu-and-uk">touring Europe and the UK</a> throughout July and August. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/linkin_park_announce_tour_with_machine_gun_kelly_and_one_ok_rock">From July to October</a>, <b>Linkin Park </b>are headlining shows across America. Support at select dates comes from Machine Gun Kelly and One OK Rock...</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">...while two of the July tour dates will be <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/blink_182_linkin_park_co_headlining_stadium_dates_together_star_in_new_funn">co-headline shows</a> with <b>blink-182</b>. Machine Gun Kelly and Wu Tang Clan will perform at these dates. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Thy Art Is Murder </b>and <b>Decapitated </b>have announced <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/thy_art_is_murder_announce_the_double_homicide_tour_with_decapitated">the Double Homicide tour</a>: a co-headline tour calling at dates across America throughout August and September. Support comes from Fallujah and Ghost Bath.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Nothing </b>are touring <a href="http://www.kerrang.com/48459/nothing-announce-ukeuropean-tour/">Europe and the UK</a> during August and September. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Halsey </b>has released the dates for the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HalseyMusic/photos/a.265367053638373.1073741828.253431031498642/820173164824423/?type=3&theater">first installment of the 'hopeless fountain kingdom' world tour</a>. From September to November, she'll be touring North America and Canada with PartyNextDoor and Charli XCX. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Mayday Parade </b>are taking their 'A Lesson in Romantics' 10th anniversary tour <a href="https://www.facebook.com/maydayparade/photos/a.168090086048.150816.28285046048/10155006917206049/?type=3&theater">to Australia and New Zealand</a> in October, and are taking This Wild Life along for the ride. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>You Me At Six </b>are touring <a href="https://www.facebook.com/youmeatsix/photos/a.198353149750.129611.24488764750/10154796378319751/?type=3&theater">Germany in October</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Don Broco </b>have announced their <a href="http://www.punktastic.com/news/don-broco-announce-exclusive-london-headline-show/">biggest UK show EVER</a> - they're headlining Alexandra Palace on November 11th. </li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There were a heck of a lot more <b>album announcements </b>this week:</div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Rancid </b><a href="http://pupfresh.com/post/160240197609">announced their new album</a>, 'Trouble Maker', which will hit the shelves on the 9th of June.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>The Vamps </b><a href="http://www.justjaredjr.com/2017/05/04/the-vamps-night-day-album-out-july-14th-get-all-the-details-here/">are returning</a> with 'Night & Day' on July 14th.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Fangclub </b>announced details of their <a href="https://twitter.com/Fangclubband/status/859410973811253248">self-titled debut album</a>, which will be released on August 4th.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Finally, <b>Nothing But Thieves </b>are releasing <a href="https://store.nbthieves.com/products/broken-machine-signed-deluxe-cd-store-exclusive">their second album</a>, 'Broken Machine', on September 8th. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul>
</ul>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In <b>other news</b>: </div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;">Sadly, ex-<b>Black Flag </b>bassist Cel Revuelta <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/former_black_flag_bassist_cel_revuelta_dies_from_brain_cancer">has passed away</a> after battling cancer.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Brent Hinds from <b>Mastodon </b><a href="http://wrat.com/2017/05/01/mastodons-brent-hinds-gets-engaged-stage/">got engaged</a> during the band's concert in Birmingham, Alabama...</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">...and <b>Don Broco</b>'s bassist Tom Doyle "<a href="https://www.donbroco.com/">livestreamed his wedding</a>". </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Example </b>announced that his wife Erin is pregnant with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/leadingbyexample/photos/a.85499637173.102721.14418252173/10155351090217174/?type=3&theater">their second son</a>. Congratulations!</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Fall Out Boy </b>revealed that <a href="https://twitter.com/falloutboy/status/860494563848466433">one of the supports</a> for their recently announced 'Mania' tour is blackbear. It'll be interesting to see who that other special guest is... </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Deftones </b>had to cancel their show in Cologne after frontman <a href="http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/deftones-frontman-chino-moreno-breaks-foot-cologne-concert-canceled/">Chino Moreno broke his foot</a>...</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">...while <b>The Damned </b>had to <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/the_damned_postpone_shows_due_to_captain_sensibles_injuries">postpone two shows</a> after Captain Sensible was not very sensible, fell off stage and broke a rib.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Those Who Fear </b>have <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/those_who_fear_announce_breakup_will_play_one_final_show">called it a day</a>...</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">...and <b>Modestep</b>'s Tony Friend revealed that he'd <a href="https://www.facebook.com/modestep/photos/a.387688855811.174145.174002005811/10154411646440812/?type=3&theater">parted ways with the band</a>, who are continuing on as a duo. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Candy Hearts </b><a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7784803/candy-hearts-name-change-best-ex-girlfriend-tour-dates-mariel-loveland">has become</a> <b>Best Ex</b>. Hear their first song under the new moniker <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrqob0fwkRQ">here</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Authority Zero </b><a href="https://www.punknews.org/article/63770/authority-zero-signs-to-bird-attack-records">have signed to</a> Bird Attack Records.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Cute Is What We Aim For </b>frontman Shaant Hacikyan has <a href="https://twitter.com/Shaant_H/status/859931832749633538">been problematic on Twitter</a> once more. Seriously considering skipping their set at Slam Dunk festival, because this guy is a tool. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Having left Of Mice & Men, <b>Austin Carlile </b>is now <a href="http://loudwire.com/of-mice-and-men-austin-carlile-coaching-baseball-costa-rica/">coaching youth baseball</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;">There were more <b>festival announcements</b>, this week from <a href="https://twitter.com/boardmasters/status/860388593042206721">Boardmasters</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/aclfestival/status/860086688261038080">Austin City Limits</a> and <a href="http://badfeelingmag.com/2017/05/04/montreals-77-fest-to-feature-rancid-dropkick-murphys-x-the-bouncing-souls-the-vandals-madball-joyce-manor-and-more-win-tix/">'77 Montreal</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Finishing on a happy note, ex-<b>My Chemical Romance </b>bassist Mikey Way is now a father! Mikey's wife, Kristen, announced the arrival of Rowan Louise Way with <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BTpQpQ8jWzQ/?taken-by=kristincolby&hl=en">this adorable photo</a>. </li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-82614020622122913282017-05-06T16:01:00.004-07:002017-05-06T16:01:35.119-07:00Happy Free Comic Book Day!<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image result for free comic book day 2017" src="http://www.freecomicbookday.com/news_images/187696_1039353_14.jpg" height="400" width="294" /></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Today is Free Comic Book Day in the UK, which is one of the most fun days of the year. Held every year on the first Saturday in May, this was my second year participating and thanks to both days I've managed to discover some brand new and independent titles that sound amazing.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I didn't write about my free comics last year, so I thought I'd make this post a celebration of the past two years. I'm going to throwback to last year's free comics, and then showcase all of the new titles I got today underneath! </div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>2016:</b></div>
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I was very lucky with my first foray into free comics, because the list of titles featured was amazing.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-owQfvMu80uY/WQ5FUpvux-I/AAAAAAAABxQ/vTFZzjr7jPcocIINQ9aOV9nWx9fRyHQlACLcB/s1600/DSC_0709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-owQfvMu80uY/WQ5FUpvux-I/AAAAAAAABxQ/vTFZzjr7jPcocIINQ9aOV9nWx9fRyHQlACLcB/s640/DSC_0709.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My free comic haul from last year</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Of course, everyone's heard of Marvel, so it was no surprise that I picked up their releases, particularly the launch of Civil War II - the biggest release featured on last year's list. There was also the first issue of a new series of Captain America and an appearance from the All-New, All-Different Avengers (who have a far more diverse line-up to the Avengers you're used to!)<br />
But the titles I hadn't heard of before got me far more excited.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m3owNCuyHqU/WQ5FUgKapGI/AAAAAAAABxU/4vSZZ1QltIQuxXvNiLOZgIY1H1OvYJx0QCLcB/s1600/DSC_0711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m3owNCuyHqU/WQ5FUgKapGI/AAAAAAAABxU/4vSZZ1QltIQuxXvNiLOZgIY1H1OvYJx0QCLcB/s640/DSC_0711.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camp Midnight has such a gorgeous font, and it looks super spooky!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q2Rm5AusRNE/WQ5FbSrVGKI/AAAAAAAABxc/1KcA_MolBxw73uld5Pw1Ti6di0a0l9JDgCLcB/s1600/DSC_0712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q2Rm5AusRNE/WQ5FbSrVGKI/AAAAAAAABxc/1KcA_MolBxw73uld5Pw1Ti6di0a0l9JDgCLcB/s640/DSC_0712.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who wouldn't want to take home the gorgeous ladies on the front cover of Love and Rockets?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R_7OIoDoBYs/WQ5HHbfbHmI/AAAAAAAABxo/Dk4iOlvmr3AeYL-vYcdRtiP7EW5rlZJyACLcB/s1600/DSC_0710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R_7OIoDoBYs/WQ5HHbfbHmI/AAAAAAAABxo/Dk4iOlvmr3AeYL-vYcdRtiP7EW5rlZJyACLcB/s640/DSC_0710.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I picked up Hilda because of her little antlered squirrel friend. I'm a sucker for pets.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The designs and artwork of these releases was far more compelling and completely up my alley. I love the more classic, cartoony design far more than the hyper-realism favoured in comics at the moment, so I fell in love with all of these covers instantly. I also love the fact that they're more light-hearted: it's possible to get bored of the fighting and action in the superhero genre.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>2017: </b></div>
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I didn't look up the list of free titles before going in-store this year, as I knew I'd be visiting my local comic book shop anyway: they've just relocated into new premises and have a far bigger shop now, so I wanted to have a look around! That meant I hadn't decided what to pick up before I went in, and was pleasantly surprised with what I discovered.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YPoqVzqM_Yw/WQ5J2eSo1XI/AAAAAAAABx4/gi2ElNpypxA7WjbvVWRtH9NAXo1H1TQ1gCLcB/s1600/DSC_0702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YPoqVzqM_Yw/WQ5J2eSo1XI/AAAAAAAABx4/gi2ElNpypxA7WjbvVWRtH9NAXo1H1TQ1gCLcB/s640/DSC_0702.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My haul from this year (ft. two from Halloween Free Comic Book Day #aesthetic)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZtiB2qPaq3U/WQ5J2ts9o4I/AAAAAAAABx8/ufVfBSbfkxAWGA9veZUe4WBKL5NKtPmMwCLcB/s1600/DSC_0703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZtiB2qPaq3U/WQ5J2ts9o4I/AAAAAAAABx8/ufVfBSbfkxAWGA9veZUe4WBKL5NKtPmMwCLcB/s640/DSC_0703.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Did anyone else know there was going to be a new Buffy comic? So excited! </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ib0aT2L4vuM/WQ5J2wsahhI/AAAAAAAAByA/6OTUq12sRAYEI1IXg5HDZWiSYyrdVHqYQCLcB/s640/DSC_0704.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't know much about Skottie Young's I Hate Fairyland series, but this looks like a good introduction!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ib0aT2L4vuM/WQ5J2wsahhI/AAAAAAAAByA/6OTUq12sRAYEI1IXg5HDZWiSYyrdVHqYQCLcB/s1600/DSC_0704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ib0aT2L4vuM/WQ5J2wsahhI/AAAAAAAAByA/6OTUq12sRAYEI1IXg5HDZWiSYyrdVHqYQCLcB/s1600/DSC_0704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UkwvVpib2G4/WQ5KJTRvAoI/AAAAAAAAByE/hQs7gpoE7ecc0WTmpdamtYzSmnJtsKtbACLcB/s1600/DSC_0705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UkwvVpib2G4/WQ5KJTRvAoI/AAAAAAAAByE/hQs7gpoE7ecc0WTmpdamtYzSmnJtsKtbACLcB/s640/DSC_0705.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love this illustration, but know nothing about Archie - help!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tEk2aaJBObo/WQ5KKUnE0rI/AAAAAAAAByI/Dh2Oc3vurQMmERHtzhPcHC63gfT3dEckQCLcB/s1600/DSC_0706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tEk2aaJBObo/WQ5KKUnE0rI/AAAAAAAAByI/Dh2Oc3vurQMmERHtzhPcHC63gfT3dEckQCLcB/s640/DSC_0706.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I went to the midnight showing of Guardians of the Galaxy 2, so I'm very excited to read this issue. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hQ0vbZi-uh4/WQ5KKUvV1SI/AAAAAAAAByU/pmV_9ac8xIAZn52QY8Iob8Xo8XqBbEBaQCEw/s1600/DSC_0707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hQ0vbZi-uh4/WQ5KKUvV1SI/AAAAAAAAByU/pmV_9ac8xIAZn52QY8Iob8Xo8XqBbEBaQCEw/s640/DSC_0707.JPG" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I particularly love Baby Groot and his over-sized screwdriver! </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qz1S7okIC7A/WQ5KQS68sbI/AAAAAAAAByQ/4QdquwkEGgIC0Gn75z_fZprIbx-XLnd2ACLcB/s640/DSC_0708.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="426" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last, but certainly not least, I'm excited to read my first ever issue of Wonder Woman.</td></tr>
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And that's my haul from this Free Comic Book Day! I'm so excited to read these, especially Betty & Veronica - I know nothing about them, but they certainly look fierce. </div>
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Did you participate in this year's Free Comic Book Day?</div>
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Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-1849063670097024492017-05-05T15:08:00.003-07:002017-05-05T15:10:01.883-07:00PVRIS - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, 04/05/17<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image result for pvris 2017" height="400" src="https://i.ido.bi/assets/post/2017/05/Screen-Shot-2017-05-01-at-18.29.38-645x650.png" width="395" /><br />
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Originally Fickle Friends were the support for this show, but Scottish duo <b>Prides </b>took their place after they pulled out.<br />
The last time I saw Prides they were playing a triumphant set <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2015/09/reading-festival-28-29-30082015.html">at Reading festival</a>. Since then, they've started work on their second full-length album and have parted ways with drummer Lewis Gardiner. Their synth-filled, upbeat indie-pop doesn't make them the most obvious choice to support a band like PVRIS, but they certainly warmed the crowd up. Playing two brand new tracks - 'Say' and 'Are You Ready?' - taken from their upcoming second album, the band showed that they're heading in a more understated direction while still keeping their unique style alive, and they're aiming to be playing bigger venues. The "oh oh oh" singalong at the end of 'Are You Ready?' is evidence of that: it's built for arenas.<br />
Vocalist Stewart Brock seemed pleased with the crowd response, grinning from ear to ear when fans scattered throughout the crowd started singing along to 'Rome' and 'Higher Love'. Not many people in the venue were familiar with them before the show - some still expecting to see Fickle Friends and encountering disappointment - but there was love for them in the room before their set, and they definitely converted more members of the audience into fans by the end.<br />
Closer 'Messiah' was an explosive end to the set, the repetitive "So say it, say it, say you'll be my Messiah" getting everyone in the room chanting along as Stewart jumped across the stage in a frenzy, encouraging people to raise their voices and shout the line back at him. He's certainly a charismatic frontman, and that, combined with the fact that they're releasing songs that are impossible to compare to anyone else, makes Prides impossible to ignore.<br />
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<b>Setlist:</b><br />
Away With The Night<br />
Rome<br />
Higher Love<br />
Out of the Blue<br />
Say<br />
The Way Back Up<br />
Just Say It<br />
Are You Ready?<br />
Messiah<br />
<br />
Over the past couple of weeks, <b>PVRIS </b>have been teasing fans with the knowledge that news of their second album was coming soon. After posting an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgcL0gOYKmo">intense promo clip</a>, new single 'Heaven' was released on Daniel P. Carter's Radio 1 Rock Show on Sunday - a mere four days before this show - ushering in the 'All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell' era with a bang.<br />
This was my second time seeing the band <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2016/04/pvris-o2-forum-london-070415.html">play a headline show</a>, and it was absolutely faultless. I don't say that lightly - there literally isn't a bad thing I can say about this show.<br />
From the moment the house lights dropped, the atmosphere was electric. An intense intro tape echoed throughout the venue, almost inaudible beneath the bloodcurdling screams of anticipation emanating from everyone in attendance. Taking the show to the next level, the band had four Victorian-style street lamps standing at the back of the stage, which began to flash furiously from behind a thick cloud of smoke as the band walked out and dived straight into 'You and I'.<br />
It was impossible to find a person in the venue who wasn't singing along to every word of every song (except for brand new, previously unheard track 'Half', which I'll get to in a moment!). The roaring voices equalled the volume of vocalist Lynn Gunn, almost overshadowing her during the explosive choruses of both 'You and I' and 'Fire'.<br />
Considering this is their first time back in the UK since they <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2016/04/bring-me-horizon-royal-albert-hall.html">supported Bring Me The Horizon</a> at the Royal Albert Hall, fans have been waiting for a while to get their chance to see the band again. More than that, it seems the band have been excited to return to our stages: all of the members - Lynn, guitarist/keyboardist Alex Babinski, bassist/keyboardist Brian MacDonald, even touring drummer Justin Nace - looked happier to be on stage than I've ever seen them before, beaming at multiple moments throughout the night at the impassioned crowd response. The time away has reinvigorated them, and while it seemed possible that they could burn out (not many bands experience such a vast amount of success from just a debut album!) their second album has brought them back to life - even if <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJiRx6PTpyw">the video for 'Heaven'</a> does show their deaths.<br />
I can't express my love for their new material in words. It proves that Lynn's vocal isn't the only talent she has: she demonstrates her piano playing skills during 'Heaven', and closed the debut of 'Half' with an epic, musically intense session of drumming alongside Justin. She's always been a great frontwoman, but she's developed into a more confident performer: she's at ease while communicating the crowd, and has no hesitation when swapping her guitar for the other instruments. It's not often that you find a vocalist who's also a multi-instrumentalist, and it'll be exciting to discover whether she has any more tricks up her sleeve in the eight currently unheard tracks that will comprise the rest of the album.<br />
Despite the fact that 'Heaven' was released less than a week ago, it's obvious that it's already become a fan favourite. From the first note the crowd were singing along to every word, having listened to the track so many times at home that it was already burned into their memories. It's impossible not to play it on repeat: the video is compelling in a cinematographic way, but the song is so catchy that you can't get it out of your head once you've listened to it and you can't stop yourself clicking replay over and over again. It worked perfectly as the first song in the two song encore: preceded by an ominous recording of a heartbeat and garbled, static voices, it points towards their upcoming (yet to be announced) fall tour having a far creepier aesthetic than the 'White Noise' era. They're not afraid to admit that the UK is one of their favourite places, Lynn even going so far to say that "London is [her] favourite city", so it was only right that they played their new material for the first time in the place that they love the most.<br />
I was mildly surprised that there wasn't a more overtly political theme to the evening, as the band have been <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/pvris_are_supporting_planned_parenthood_at_sxsw_with_free_show">openly political</a> <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/pvris_release_t_shirt_to_support_planned_parenthood_and_the_aclu">on social media</a> in the past few months. There was a brief moment after a fan threw a bra on the stage, to which Lynn joked "Set those puppies free! Free the nipple!", but there wasn't time for much more of a discussion: the set was stuffed with material, because as well as the two new songs the band almost performed 'White Noise' in full (merely omitting 'Let Them In'), playing alternative, stripped back version of 'Ghosts' and 'White Noise' with just Lynn and Alex on the stage. It'll be interesting to see whether the band spark more debate on stage at shows in the future, but that's the only thing that's missing.<br />
A lot has changed, that much is obvious, but the band still have 'Hooked on a Feeling' by Blue Suede as their outro tape when they leave the stage at the end of the night. It's a nice throwback for people who've seen the band before, and shows that they're still the same, despite the level of attention that their new music is attracting.<br />
PVRIS are back, and PVRIS are better than ever.<br />
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<b>Setlist:</b><br />
You and I<br />
Fire<br />
Mirrors<br />
Holy<br />
White Noise (stripped)<br />
Ghosts (stripped)<br />
Smoke<br />
Half (live debut)<br />
Eyelids<br />
St. Patrick<br />
-<br />
Heaven (live debut)<br />
My House</div>
Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-4947804544960353972017-05-05T04:00:00.000-07:002017-05-05T04:00:14.314-07:00EP REVIEW: 'Lesson Learnt' by Elasea <div style="text-align: center;">
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It's been almost two years since I <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2015/07/elasea-where-i-belong-ep.html">reviewed Elasea's first EP</a>, 'Where I Belong', and I'm delighted to have been given the opportunity to review their second EP, which was released mid-March. As I mentioned when I <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2016/11/tigercub-bullingdon-oxford-061116.html">last saw them live</a>, they have been through a couple of line-up changes since the first EP hit the shelves.<br />
But just how much of a difference have those changes made to their sound?<br />
The answer: a heck of a lot.<br />
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Elasea are not a band who make the same song twice. When reviewing 'Where I Belong' I was struck by the fact that no two songs sounded the same - not something you often discover on a first release - and they're pushing the boundaries further than ever with this follow-up.<br />
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Title track 'Breathe // Lesson Learnt' is a marked departure from their earlier material. Bassist Liv Jones has embraced her role as co-vocalist, singing on most of the songs on this EP, and though Andy Bradford's voice still stands out above everything else, she's certainly giving him a run for his money. There aren't many bands with male/female split vocals around at the moment, and it's a gap in the market that needs filling.<br />
Liv certainly shines on 'Time Stops'. It's the heaviest track on the EP, with an intricate guitar line opening the song over a crushing drum beat. Stripping it back when Andy starts singing gives it an intense atmosphere, and as it builds up to the chorus - in which Andy and Liv both have solo vocal sections - it holds your attention, hard to predict where it's going to go next.<br />
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It's impossible to choose a standout track between 'On My Own' and 'Walls'.<br />
I adored 'On My Own' <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/elasea-vic-swindon-140116.html">the first time I heard it</a> and it was stuck in my head for weeks after the show, so I'm grateful that I can finally listen to it on repeat! It's Fort Hope-esque, Andy's vocal veering between singing and screaming, adding a tougher edge to the proceedings. Completely unrestrained towards the end of the song, he roars "When it rains it pours/I can't remember what I'm looking for" with such passion that it gives you shivers.<br />
The two are separated by interlude 'These Secrets', the only song worth skipping. It's a surprise compared to the rest of the EP, and although it's reminiscent of Bring Me The Horizon at their softest moments it doesn't do anything for me. Featuring an interlude on an EP bragging only five tracks is a risky move, and sadly this one doesn't add anything. That being said, it's a beautifully chilled out piece when you consider it independently... It just doesn't sound like Elasea, and it doesn't fit with the rest of this collection.<br />
However, it makes closing track 'Walls' even more effective. The band fully embrace their pop-punk side on the song, creating a frenetically catchy riff that just makes you want to dance. The split vocal between Andy and Liv is a particular highlight: their voices complement each other so beautifully, and I'm hoping that Liv continues lending her vocals to their songs in the future, because it gives them an edge. I wish they'd pushed this song further, because it still feels like it could go somewhere and then it finishes. It's not a disappointing closer - the guitar work is brilliant, and it will work perfectly as a set closer in their live shows - but it could have been even bigger.<br />
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Elasea are a band who refuse to be pigeonholed. If I had to choose one word to describe this EP, it would have to be varied: Elasea have control over a mixed array of genres, and they consistently try different things and do them successfully. It shouldn't be long until big things happen to this five-piece. They definitely deserve it: they don't rest on their laurels, consistently striving to do bigger and better things.<br />
I can't wait to see what they do next.<br />
<br />
<b>Tracklist:</b><br />
Breathe // Lesson Learnt<br />
Time Stops<br />
On My Own<br />
These Secrets (Interlude)<br />
Walls</div>
Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-27163994805849450442017-05-04T01:23:00.004-07:002017-05-04T01:23:56.482-07:00TRAVEL THURSDAY: The Putrid Whiff of RotoruaThis week, AJ takes us on a journey to a smelly place that is very.... Smelly.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rotorua, a city in the Bay of Plenty built over an active volcano zone, was one of the places I was most excited to visit on my journeys. I heard grand tales of its beauty, its wonder, its thermal haven and most importantly its putrid whiff of rotten eggs, and was excited to experience it myself.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All of it is true. The lakes where reds and whites and greens mix like skittles in vodka, cracks in the city's rounds which release steam hot enough to soften the most hardened of road-cones, bubbling mud pits that make disgusting but incredibly satisfying sounds, and definitely the putrid whiff of rotten eggs: all true. Rotorua has a sort of Jurassic charm to it that is ever so endearing, and even though its traffic light systems and the local drivers that use them are as prehistoric as the volcanic activity seeping out of the pavements, you can't help but forgive it. However, there is one phenomenon which left a taste in my mouth as bad as the smell of my surroundings (I cannot emphasize enough the putrid whiff of rotten eggs). Having a good reputation makes you something of a tourist hotspot, and sadly like most tourist hotspots the experiences you tend to have are watered down significantly by one of two factors. 1) Overcrowding, or 2) exploitation, both of which I found at the big natural attraction of the area, the Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I failed to do my research before opting to choose this place as our destination for the early morning, and straight away I was floored by the admission price. $35 NZD (£19 GBP or $27 USD) for walking about a park (albeit a very very pretty park) and seeing a geyser. I bought the tickets thinking it was a little steep, but maybe the geyser was well worth the exploitation. We drove up the road and got there just in time for the star attraction, something my friend described as "akin to me laying on my back and pissing into the air." I'll take his word on that, as I'm a short guy and couldn't see above the masses who had flocked to see it. Overcrowding.</span> </blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See what I mean?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now don't get me wrong, I found the experience very worth it. The scenery was lovely, the day was beautifully sunny (unlike a few hours later), and I got to take some dope looking pictures inside steam clouds, but it did leave me pondering some things.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s it okay for a group of people to bandy together and deny a look at one of the most stunning pieces of nature in the world unless you have enough money (in a currency that most of the visitors were almost certainly not totally familiar with), or are they in the right because way too many people come here and perhaps some admission fee is only fair because it not only brings more attention to the area (because if people are paying that much for a walk, then it must be good, right?) but also keeps the crowds to a minimum? I'm a little at a loss for an answer there.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I faced the same issues later in the day, but with far more rain. Skyline have been operating in Rotorua for many years and they offer a number of facilities, including: wine tasting, fine dining, a Jelly Bean shop, one huge fuck off swing and - perhaps more fun - a luge track. They now have operations elsewhere, including as far as Singapore. I previously visited Skyline in Queenstown and deeply enjoyed it, so I was excited to try it again in Rotorua. While it was indeed fun (aside from when I crashed on the "scenic route" ride, only for my friend to collide into me, leaving us both awkwardly paddling like sea turtles to try and get momentum back on a flat part of the track), I found myself thinking of the earlier dilemma again. The luge was significantly overpriced, and the overcrowding was so bad it took us 45 minutes to wait in line for our next turn. Is it okay for them to exploit such a popular attraction?</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After all is said and done, however, I deeply enjoyed my time at both Skyline and the Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland, and I'd highly recommend them both. This will be a common question that I will ask myself in the future and sometimes, certainly, I'll feel like it's not worth the whispers it garners. That wasn't the case with the attractions at Rotorua, though. If you ignore the camera-clickers and the corporate greed, you will find sheer beauty and marvel at just how unique the city is. Oh, and ignore the putrid whiff of rotten eggs, too. </span></blockquote>
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A big thank you to AJ for yet another educational post. I'd never heard of Rotorua, but it sounds fascinating!</div>
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What are your thoughts on tourist attractions: are they overpriced, or is the cost justifiable? </div>
Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-3646552409570720842017-05-03T03:09:00.000-07:002017-05-03T03:09:14.640-07:00TOP FIVE WEDNESDAY: Top five favourite SFF covers<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">(Top Five Wednesday was created by </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/gingerreadslainey" style="font-family: "times new roman";">GingerReadsLainey</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">. Find out more at the </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/118368-top-5-wednesday" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Goodreads group</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">This topic is another crossover with the Booktube SFF Awards, and I think this one is supremely fun: I absolutely love cover artwork, so getting to talk solely about that is a dream week!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">5)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> 'Wintersong' by S. Jae-Jones</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for wintersong by s. jae-jones" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479206906l/24763621.jpg" height="400" width="262" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I knew nothing about 'Wintersong', but the cover took my breath away and filled me with the need to read it. I still haven't (for a book blog, I read a surprisingly small amount of the books I talk about...) but it looks so beautiful on my book shelf.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">4) 'Ice Like Fire' by Sara Raasch</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for snow like ashes sara raasch" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1423670899l/17404295.jpg" height="400" width="264" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I like all of the covers in Sara Raasch's trilogy, but I love this one in particular. I think it's the contrast of the dark background with the bright colours of the locations inside the circle... I can look at it for hours without getting bored, and I'm always spotting new details. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">3) 'Norse Mythology' by Neil Gaiman</span></div>
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<img alt="Image result for norse mythology" src="http://www.neilgaiman.com/works/images/NorseMythology_Hardback_1473940163.jpg" height="400" width="264" /></div>
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Simple but effective, the cover to 'Norse Mythology' is even more beautiful in real life. I'm so lucky, because my boyfriend actually bought it for me for my birthday: it's the first Gaiman novel I've owned in hardback, and it's now my pride and joy! </div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">2) 'The Queen of the Tearling' by Erika Johansen</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for erika johansen covers" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-npeJbVrDh70/VV6k4QkQ_cI/AAAAAAAAGjI/YAWN_dqg7kQ/s400/5af84f8888abd0754d9f9bfac8bae8b7.jpg" width="260" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I thought I was going to like 'The Queen of the Tearling' a lot more than I did, because I was blown away by this cover design. The juxtaposition between the animal trap and the luxurious pillow - and the fact that at a quick glance you can genuinely mistake it for a crown - is utter genius. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">1) The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin</span><br />
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<img alt="Got-Sophisticated" src="http://fantasy-faction.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Got-Sophisticated.jpg" /></div>
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Specifically, these UK redesigns. I always wanted to read George R.R. Martin's novels, but I'd only picked up the first one in a charity shop: I had no real desire to own them, so was planning on borrowing them from the library. </div>
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But these redesigns are so beautiful that I fell head over heels in love with them and, luckily, I was given them for my birthday the year they were released!</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I hope you enjoyed this Top Five Wednesday! What are your favourite SFF book covers?</span>Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-19551771500410530882017-05-02T15:38:00.000-07:002017-05-02T15:38:12.536-07:00'The Yellow Room' by Jess Vallance<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b>'It's about half seven on Tuesday morning and it's freezing in my bedroom so I'm doing my usual trick of gathering all of my uniform together in one quick sweep, dragging it into bed with me and getting dressed completely under the duvet.'</b></blockquote>
I think everyone's going to relate to this first sentence: no one likes getting out of bed when it's cold!<br />
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Anna is on her way to school when the postman gives her a letter that changes her life. It's from a woman called Edie Southwood, and she's writing to inform Anna that her absent father is dead.</div>
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Edie, her father's long-term girlfriend, is utterly distraught by his passing. She asks Anna if they can meet, and against the wishes of her best friends George and Sienna, Anna agrees. If meeting her will help this woman's guilt, it's the least she can do.</div>
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Edie brings Anna a necklace that her father wanted her to have, and Anna wastes no time before asking about her father: it's too late to meet him, but it's not too late to get to know him. </div>
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After a few hours in the cafe, Anna quickly comes to the realisation that she actually likes Edie. Her mother is a university professor who has no time for her: even though Edie is naive and innocent, her friendship is the closest Anna has to a parental bond. After a few trips to the seaside Edie decides she's going to relocate there and starts looking for flats, and Anna's happy to help. She's just grateful that her father's death didn't ruin Edie's chance for happiness.</div>
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But Anna's mother isn't the only problem in her life. She's being blackmailed by Leon Jakes-Field, a boy who goes to her school, because he saw her push a child she was babysitting (in self-defence, nonetheless). Leon thinks he's hot shit because his mum is a best-selling author, and he's certain he's going to follow in her footsteps. Anna hates him, but she can't let him know that or he'll send her life crashing down around her.</div>
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Anna confides in Evie, and the shared knowledge of her secret brings them closer together. She can't tell George or Sienna about Leon or the fact that she's still seeing Evie, and the secrets drive a wedge between their little trio. </div>
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Then Anna gets a phone call, and it seems her dad might not be dead after all. So who is Edie Southwood, and why did she lie?</div>
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This is <b>the YA answer to 'The Collector'</b> by John Fowles. As that's one of my favourite classics of all time, you'd be betting correctly if you said <b>I bloody loved this book.</b></div>
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<b>It's psychological as shit</b>. </div>
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First of all you've got the blackmail from Leon, an intensely creepy asshole who manipulates Anna and gets so uncomfortably far into her personal space that you'll find yourself cringing in response while you read. </div>
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Then you've got the relationship between Anna and her mother, which is a <b>fascinating but heartbreakingly realistic depiction of a parent/child relationship</b>. Not every family unit is a happy one, and that's not often represented in YA - often teenage characters have parents that they can turn to, confide in and rely on, but in real life that isn't always the case. </div>
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Last but not least there's Edie, who tries to do everything right but goes about it in completely the wrong way. <b>Edie genuinely thinks she's helping Anna</b> - a fact which makes her barricading her in her spare room all the harder to understand. <b>It's utterly chilling</b> to read, even if it does feel a little rushed: it wouldn't have been good if there had been gratuitous, unnecessary scenes of Anna trapped in the yellow room, but it would have added to the significance of the setting that gives us our title. </div>
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The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is because <b>Anna never has to deal with her problems herself</b>. Edie talks to Leon's mum and she deals with her son, forcing him to delete his so-called 'evidence' before shipping him off to Africa to work for his uncle. Anna's relationship with her mother is only changed when she saves her from Edie's yellow room, and Anna doesn't have to plot her escape because her parents and the police turn up to save the day. On the one hand, <b>it's realistic </b>- not many 16-year-olds have to deal with their problems entirely independently - <b>but it's disappointing</b>. </div>
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That being said, <b>I was so happy with how Jess finished the story</b>. Edie gets the help that she needs and Anna isn't angry with her, which was a relief: sometimes people act out of character because of mental illness, and you can't hold what they do against them. Anna and her mother decide they're going to work on their problems, while Anna's dad leaves town again - it's not a straightforward happily ever after, because life rarely is! Being someone who only has one parent, I was worried that Anna's dad was going to rock up and be seen as the knight in shining armour: I could have cheered with happiness when Anna and her mum teamed up to show him they didn't think he was their saviour. </div>
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<b>This is an entirely satisfying standalone</b>. </div>
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I wish I'd read this book earlier. I'm definitely going to give Jess Vallance's debut novel, 'Birdy', a try: not many young adult authors are attempting to write contemporary psychological dramas, so this book was a refreshing change from the status quo. </div>
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Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-41489570105162881742017-05-02T02:04:00.000-07:002017-05-02T02:04:43.120-07:00TOP TEN TUESDAY: Ten favourite book covers featuring people<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">(Top Ten Tuesday was created by </span><a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/" style="font-family: "times new roman";">The Broke and The Bookish</a><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">This week is a freebie week dedicated to book covers. While I was writing <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2017/04/top-ten-tuesday-ten-things-that-make-me_25.html">last week's list</a>, I realised that I'm often overly critical of covers that have people on them. Because of that, I decided to challenge myself this week: it's taken me a while, but I've managed to find ten book covers that feature people that I LOVE.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">10) 'Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda' by Becky Albertalli</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I was debating over whether or not to put this cover in, because it's not an actual model... But to hell with it, it's my list and I love any excuse to talk about 'Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda'. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">9) 'If Birds Fly Back' by Carlie Sorosiak</span><br />
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Who doesn't love the beach? Who doesn't love constellations? Who doesn't love handwritten text? Three great reasons to love this cover. On <a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1475677661l/30807329.jpg">the original design</a> the model was more prominent, so my eye is automatically drawn to her even though she's no longer the focal point. </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">8) 'Exit, Pursued By a Bear' by E.K. Johnston</span><br />
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This cover is just so striking. The dark silhouette of the girl contrasting with the beautiful sunset, and the arms reaching up towards her... I can't think of another cover that looks anything like this one. </div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">7) The 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before' trilogy by Jenny Han</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">The pastel colours, the handwriting, the fact that the cover design didn't change throughout the trilogy (despite the fact that Jenny Han <a href="http://ew.com/article/2016/09/21/jenny-han-always-and-forever-lara-jean/">didn't even know</a> she was going to write the third one!) - these books are so visually pleasing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">6) 'Gem & Dixie' by Sara Zarr</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">This cover makes me nostalgic for something I've never experienced, which is a weird feeling. I love the natural lighting, the costumes and the way they're carelessly strewn across their blankets: it looks like the perfect autumn day, and I can almost smell the leaf mould in the air when I look at it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">5) 'Fireworks' by Katie Cotugno</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I'm a sucker for both polaroids and collages, so I love the way this cover takes a bunch of snapshots of the characters having fun and collects them. I know nothing about this book, but I want to read it purely because the cover is so well-designed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">4) 'P.S. I Like You' by Kasie West</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">This cover is so cute! Contemporary covers with people on are often so cheesy, but the awkwardness is dissipated in this one because they're both holding their comical signs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">3) 'The One' by Kiera Cass</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Out of all five of the books in the Selection series, 'The One' is the only ONE (haha!) that I cannot fault. Something bugs me on each of the others, but this cover is gorgeous: the style of the dress, the understated background, the expression on the model's face... Beautiful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">2) 'The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer' by Michelle Hodkin</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Every time I see this cover, I get chills. I've always loved underwater photography, but there's something about the intensity of the pose, the way that they're just above the water but almost completely submerged... Stunning. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">1) The Winner's trilogy by Marie Rutkoski</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><img alt="Image result for the winner's curse" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1377023523l/16069030.jpg" height="320" width="213" /><img alt="Image result for the winner's crime" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1411741455l/20443207.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><img alt="Image result for the winner's kiss" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1455809407l/20443235.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">This is another trilogy that has three beautiful covers: I wasn't going to force myself to choose just one!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I hope you enjoyed this Top Ten Tuesday! What did you decide to do with your book cover freebie list?</span>Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-25003322226362669662017-05-01T08:25:00.000-07:002017-05-01T08:25:43.015-07:00'Crongton Knights' (South Crongton Trilogy #2) by Alex Wheatle<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b>'How long had this fight been going on? It felt like for ever. I mean, North and South Crong were just two grimy council estates where most fams had a gas card, an electric key and they didn't want their kids to end up in the biscuit factory, stacking shelves in the supermarket or selling extra-large colas down the bowling alley. So how were they so different?'</b></blockquote>
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<b>'My mum told me I was named after her Scottish granddad, Danny McKay.'</b></blockquote>
Instead of being a direct continuation, 'Crongton Knights' is a companion novel to 'Liccle Bit'. Lemar, Jonah and Venetia are still a huge part of the story, but it's great to get to know McKay a little better!<br />
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When Venetia breaks up with her older boyfriend Sergio, she's devastated. Not because of the split, but because he stole her phone, which had intimate photos of her on it - photos that he took on his phone, without her permission, and sent to her.<br />
Bit comes up with a plan: the gang can roll up to Sergio's place, ask him for Venetia's phone back, and if he refuses then they'll take it from him... Forcibly. Then they'll take his phone, too, just to be certain that all of the evidence is deleted.<br />
McKay and Jonah are both apprehensive. Sergio lives in Notre Dame, an estate the other side of North Crong, and with Manjaro still on the run tension between the gangs is higher than ever. Just setting foot outside South Crong is seen as asking for a beating.<br />
Bit's always been a good friend to McKay. He supported him when his mother died by letting him live with him for a few days, so he owes his bruv. McKay decides to overcome his nerves and take part in the mission.<br />
After that it doesn't take much to persuade Jonah: he doesn't want to be the odd one out, and new girl Saira is going along - he's sure that his bravery will help him score with her.<br />
But McKay has a lot going on at home. Since his mother's death, his brother Nesta has been struggling to control his temper, and after some members of the North Crong gang attempt to steal his bicycle he puts one of them in hospital. Then there are the debt collectors banging on the door every morning, despite the fact that his dad is working more overtime than seems physically possible...<br />
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<b>I can't fault this novel</b>.<br />
'Liccle Bit' moved at a slow pace, but <b>'Crongton Knights' is a modern take on the traditional quest plot</b> and I absolutely loved every page. McKay refers to houses as castles and doors as drawbridges, which means the bus must be the trusty steed that they ride into battle: a humorous way of looking at a stupidly dangerous task.<br />
<b>The events take place over just 48 hours</b>, so there isn't any downtime. <b>It's impossible to put this book down</b>, and you can feel your heart racing as the gang find themselves in countless sticky situations on their journey to and from Notre Dame. I'm used to feeling this fear while reading fantasy or science fiction novels, so to experience it in a contemporary novel - all be it a contemporary set in a fake location - really drives home the terror that residents of gang-filled areas must feel on a daily basis.<br />
<b>The relationship between family and gang is further explored</b>, which I'd been hoping for <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2017/04/liccle-bit-south-crongton-trilogy-1-by.html">after enjoying that aspect</a> in 'Liccle Bit'. Nesta isn't part of any gang - he's a bit of a loner - but his actions get McKay dragged into a life-threatening situation.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>"This all started with me... Sorry for getting you bruvs caught up in this macho drama."</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>"You were only defending yourself," I said.</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>"Yeah." Nesta nodded. "But look what it led to. Sorry."</b></blockquote>
Alex Wheatle's a genius at showing how everyone is involved in the gang in some way, and mostly not by choice. <b>His writing makes you reevaluate the way you feel about teenagers involved in real life gangs</b>, and that empathy is important: it's not fair to completely ostracise young people without understanding their motives, because they may be defending themselves or their families. This is most apparent in Venetia, who has no choice but to act in a situation she never should have been placed in.<br />
<b>This story is the definition of gripping</b>. If you want to read a short book with well-crafted, realistic characters, I recommend nothing more highly than 'Crongton Knights'.<br />
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I can't wait to read 'Straight Outta Crongton', even though I'm assuming it'll be following another new resident of South Crong. I wouldn't be surprised if Alex Wheatle won the YA Book Prize - this series deserves appreciation, and I want to hear more people talking about it sooner rather than later.</div>
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Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-54939778120484486702017-05-01T03:37:00.000-07:002017-05-01T03:37:24.745-07:00April wrap-upI was completely wrong about how unemployment would treat me. I thought I was going to be living the life of luxury and relaxation, doing nothing but lounging around in my pyjamas reading all day... But that didn't happen.<br />
I've been productive this month, but in a far different way than I'd expected. I've rediscovered my love for music - something that has waned over the last year or so - meaning I've been focusing on that instead of reading. I've reconnected with old friends that I haven't been able to see for a while (even catsitting for two of them while they were in hospital having their first baby!) and I'm so grateful that these friendships weren't ruined when I didn't put effort into them. I've also been doing a lot of cleaning and decluttering: it's crazy how much can pile up when you're not in the house on a regular basis!<br />
I haven't been blogging much and I've been reading even less, but I'm trying to look on the bright side. Hopefully in May I'll be able to find the stability that I've lost this month.<br />
<br />
<b>Bookish wrap-up:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
In April, I read <b>12 books</b>. This is the lowest amount I've read this year so far, but it's still quite a considerable total - I need to stop beating myself up, and celebrate the fact that I'm reading more than one or two!<br />
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The <b>best books </b>I read this month?:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image result for queen aimee carter" height="400" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71rk-nAk48L.jpg" width="265" /><img alt="Image result for leap year russell" height="400" src="https://www.tworoadsbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/LeapYear-Chosen.jpg" width="255" /></div>
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I gave both 'Queen' and 'Leap Year' <b>5 stars</b>. </div>
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The <b>worst books </b>I read this month?:</div>
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<img alt="Image result for daughters unto devils" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1427733043l/18748653.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><img alt="Image result for margot & me" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478535522l/31574295.jpg" height="320" width="208" /><img alt="Image result for halloween party christie" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1295673439l/16307.jpg" height="320" width="199" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
'Daughters Unto Devils' was a <b>1 star </b>read, while 'Margot & Me' and 'Halloween Party' both got just <b>2 stars</b>. This might be why I've been struggling to read more: I just keep picking up books that I'm really excited about, but end up utterly disappointing me!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Musical wrap-up:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
I wasn't blown away by any of the albums that were released this month, but because I love 'black butterflies & deja vu' and 'Bad Behavior', I'm going to award <b>album of the month </b>to The Maine's 'lovely little lonely'.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image result for lovely little lonely the maine" height="320" src="https://i.ido.bi/assets/review/2017/03/lovelylittlelonely.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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Hopefully it'll grow on me when I've listened to it a bit more.</div>
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It's easy to choose <b>song of the month</b>, though. Paramore blew me away with their comeback single, 'Hard Times', which sounds completely different to anything they've released before:</div>
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<b><br /></b>
My <b>concert of the month </b>has to be You Me At Six's <a href="http://everythingalyce.blogspot.com/2017/04/you-me-at-six-alexandra-palace-150417.html">triumphant headline show</a> at Alexandra Palace. Both supports - black foxxes and Tonight Alive - were on the top of their game, and while the other shows that I went to in April had at least one support that disappointed me, this entire night was impossible to critique.<br />
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I hope you enjoyed this April wrap-up! Fingers crossed I'll get back on top of things in May.<br />
How was your month? Did you have a nice Easter?Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-31771373663310883402017-04-30T15:12:00.001-07:002017-04-30T15:12:23.982-07:00WTF Did I Miss This Week? #30 (w/c 24/04/17)A lot happened last week: two of my closest friends now have a baby, so I was catsitting for them while they were in the hospital, and it was my 21st birthday. That means some of this news might have occurred slightly before the 24th of April - there wasn't much time for editing before I posted it!<br />
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<b>The publishing world:</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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Check out the <b>new releases </b>that have made their way into the world:</div>
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<img alt="Image result for between two skies o'sullivan" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478105208l/27426036.jpg" height="320" width="212" /><img alt="Image result for legion kagawa" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1468417662l/28821387.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></div>
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<img alt="Image result for lucky girl maciel" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1467486965l/25465103.jpg" height="320" width="212" /><img alt="Image result for maud fishbane" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476723327l/31706659.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></div>
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<img alt="Image result for north of happy alsaid" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490709663l/27391973.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></div>
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<img alt="Image result for the whole thing together brashares" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1488021888l/31123236.jpg" height="320" width="214" /><img alt="Image result for the wonder of us culbertson" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491123156l/32332925.jpg" height="320" width="213" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for the standard grand nicorvo" src="http://images.macmillan.com/folio-assets/macmillan_us_frontbookcovers_1000H/9781250108944.jpg" height="320" width="211" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for oola newell" height="320" src="https://d1a37ygoufymvg.cloudfront.net/resized/width-298/path-assets/covers/v3/9780008209797.jpg" width="210" /><img alt="Image result for the f word palmer" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41mk-p5mDIL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="213" /><br />
<img alt="Image result for the most beautiful woman in florence book" height="320" src="https://alyssapalombo.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/themostbeautifulwomaninflorencecoverbigger-1.jpg" width="213" /></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b>
Just the one <b>cover reveal</b> this week:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image result for the cruel prince holly black" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493047153l/26032825.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></div>
<b><br /></b>
In <b>other news</b>:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Tahereh Mafi </b>will be releasing <a href="https://twitter.com/TaherehMafi/status/857291584731193344">another three books</a> in the Shatter Me series. 'Restore Me' will hit the shelves on March 6th, and will pick up two weeks after the original trilogy ended. </li>
<li><b>Daniel José Older</b>'s 'Shadowshaper' <a href="http://deadline.com/2017/04/anika-noni-rose-shadowshaper-book-rights-daniel-jose-older-1202077920/">has been optioned</a>.</li>
<li><b>Rick Riordan </b>now has <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/71466-disney-announces-new-rick-riordan-imprint.html">his own imprint</a> with Disney-Hyperion. </li>
<li><b>Robert M. Pirsig</b>, author of 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/25/robert-pirsig-obituary">died at 88</a>.</li>
<li>The winners of the <b>2017 Edgar Awards </b><a href="http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html">have been announced</a>.</li>
</ul>
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<b>The music world:</b></div>
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<br />
I could only find one <b>new release</b>:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image result for gorillaz human" height="200" src="https://i-d-images.vice.com/images/2017/03/24/gorillaz-lanza-cuatro-tracks-dos-videos-y-fecha-de-estreno-de-su-nuevo-lbum-body-image-1490366607.jpg?output-quality=75" width="200" /></div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Some long-awaited <b>new music</b>:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Of Mice and Men </b>are 'Unbreakable', even without Austin Carlile: </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_3P26FaPxgk" width="560"></iframe>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Highly Suspect </b>have released the official video for 'Little One':</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eKcIedFBiVU" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<b>All Time Low </b>have admitted that they're the 'Life of the Party':</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Hm_w4JNar-4" width="560"></iframe>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Trace Cyrus </b>has released his first solo song, and I have NO IDEA WHY: </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_ep1xZC9CFE" width="560"></iframe>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
While <b>Fall Out Boy </b>have kinda started sounding like Waterparks. Odd...:</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VtVFTuIZFYU" width="560"></iframe>
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<br /></div>
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There were also new releases from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdPyYze2NIA">Gorillaz</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmBU5A319v4">The Winter Passing</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hybVudBaAb4">Papa Roach</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff8KCvbxkZA">The Flatliners</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMaKm4_mmNc">SHVPES</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISey8CPOo3Q">blink-182</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AqjqOqNrjw">Imagine Dragons</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXiuVQ-GgA4">OneRepublic</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpNHJT8wFfY">Blaenavon</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gau6SL-Xt0">Every Time I Die</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP_nIAVAKbE">The One Hundred</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwglgn1mo3M">Stone Sour</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wapOqjQ4r_M">Avenged Sevenfold</a>, while <b>twenty one pilots </b>released the fourth chapter of their 'sleepers' tour diary series and <b>AlunaGeorge </b>remixed <b>You Me At Six</b>'s newest single, 'Take on the World'.</div>
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<div>
<br />
Of course, there were even more <b>tour announcements</b>:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Can't Swim </b>are heading out with Souvenirs and Young and Heartless for some East Coast shows <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cantswim/photos/a.933019800114096.1073741827.237145356368214/1340032179412854/?type=3&theater">in June</a>.</li>
<li><b>In This Moment </b>will be touring America <a href="http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/in-this-moment-announces-summer-2017-tour/">from June to August</a>. </li>
<li><b>Moose Blood </b>are headlining shows across America throughout <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MooseBlood/photos/a.541015579245412.135493.511011122245858/1642380629108896/?type=3&theater">July and August</a>.</li>
<li><b>Paul McCartney </b>has <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7775064/paul-mccartney-north-american-tour-dates-one-on-one">announced American dates</a> in July, September and October.</li>
<li>As well as announcing their new album and releasing a new track, <b>Fall Out Boy </b>have unveiled tour dates across America throughout <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/fall_out_boy_announce_headlining_tour">October and November</a>. </li>
<li>To celebrate the tenth anniversary of their debut album, <b>Scouting For Girls </b>are playing it in full at venues across the UK during <a href="http://listings.ticketmaster.co.uk/scoutingforgirls">November and December</a>.</li>
</ul>
<div>
There were so many <b>album announcements </b>this week that I've decided to give them their own section!: </div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>In Hearts Wake </b>are releasing their fourth album, 'Ark', <a href="http://teamrock.com/news/2017-04-26/in-hearts-wake-announce-new-album-ark">on May 26th</a>.</li>
<li><b>The One Hundred</b>'s <a href="http://www.kerrang.com/48327/one-hundred-confirm-details-debut-album/">debut album</a>, 'Chaos + Bliss', will be hitting the shelves on June 2nd.</li>
<li><b>Hundreth</b>'s 'Rare' <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/hundredth_release_new_song_neurotic_ahead_of_upcoming_new_album_rare">will be out via Hopeless</a> Records on June 16th...</li>
<li>...while <b>Broadside</b>'s 'Paradise' will be <a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/broadside-announce-new-album-paradise-and-share-new-single">released on the same date</a> via Victory Records. Better start saving your pennies! </li>
<li><b>Haim </b>have <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/haim-preview-something-to-tell-you-lp-with-right-now-video-w479034">finally announced</a> their next album: 'Something To Tell You' will be out on July 7th. </li>
<li><b>Bullet For My Valentine </b>have <a href="http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/bullet-for-my-valentine-live-brixton">teamed up with Pledgemusic</a> to release 'Live From Brixton: Chapter Two'. Expected release date is July 28th, but this may change. </li>
<li><b>Wage War</b>'s second album, 'Deadweight', will be released <a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/wage-war-announce-new-album-share-new-video">on August 4th</a>. </li>
<li><b>Fall Out Boy </b>will be releasing their seventh album, 'Mania', on September 15th. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
In <b>other news</b>: </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>There were two big break-ups this week: sadly both <a href="https://twitter.com/thisisletlive/status/858012586817626113">letlive.</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/VannaBoston/status/858043086630506498">Vanna</a> have called it a day. </li>
<li><b>You Me At Six </b>have done acoustic sessions for both <a href="https://chorus.fm/news/you-me-at-six-live-at-spotify/">Live at Spotify</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/youmeatsix/posts/10154775926704751">Kerrang! Radio</a>. </li>
<li><b>Oli Sykes </b><a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/watch-bring-me-the-horizons-oli-sykes-perform-with-while-she-sleeps">appeared on stage</a> with <b>While She Sleeps </b>to perform their recent collaboration 'Silence Speaks'. </li>
<li>More <b>festival announcements</b>: this time there were additions to <a href="https://www.punktastic.com/news/the-fest-16-announces-initial-line-up/">The Fest 16</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/seetickets/status/857892143406268420">Sundown</a>, <a href="http://www.nme.com/news/music/muse-and-biffy-clyro-announced-for-vital-festival-2061793">Vital</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/lifeisbeautiful/status/856915216843522048">Life Is Beautiful</a>.</li>
<li>Talking of festivals, you can't have missed <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39743303/luxury-fyre-festival-is-cancelled-with-ticket-holders-still-stranded-in-bahamas">the shit storm</a> surrounding <b>Fyre Festival</b>. </li>
<li><b>Korn </b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/korn/posts/10155119168245761">will be rescheduling</a> the majority of their May tour dates due to unforeseen circumstances.</li>
<li><b>Halsey </b>has unveiled the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BTb7-5kjWP1/?taken-by=iamhalsey&hl=en">tracklisting</a> for recently announced sophomore album, 'hopeless fountain kingdom'.</li>
<li><b>PVRIS </b>have taken teasing their second album to the next level, with this promotional clip:</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GgcL0gOYKmo" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<ul>
<li>The <a href="http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/apmas_2017_nominees">nominees for this year's</a> <b>Alt Press Music Awards </b>are out. Vote vote vote! </li>
<li><b>Plain White T's </b>have <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7768239/plain-white-ts-land-of-the-living-video-premiere-tom-higgenson-interview">returned to Fearless Records</a>.</li>
<li>The stage times for <b>Slam Dunk festival </b><a href="https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/here-are-the-stage-times-for-slam-dunk-festival-2017">have been released</a>, while <b>Bury Tomorrow </b>were announced as special guests on the main stage. The festival also has the cover of the new issue of Rock Sound magazine:</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image result for rock sound slam dunk" height="426" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C-MfMCoWAAEd2jL.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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That's all for this week - enjoy the first week of May! </div>
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Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-68592048838974623632017-04-29T07:36:00.000-07:002017-04-29T07:40:13.427-07:00'Liccle Bit' (South Crongton Trilogy #1) by Alex Wheatle<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image result for liccle bit" src="http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1416412511l/22106358.jpg" height="400" width="254" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>*This review will contain spoilers!*</b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<b>'I didn't want to be known as a snitch - snitches in Crongton had the same lifespan as a choc ice on a barbecue.'</b></blockquote>
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War is raging between North and South Crongton. Members of both gangs are getting deleted weekly, making the tension in the area unbearable.</div>
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Liccle Bit - Lemar - isn't a member of the South Crong crew. His mum would kill him if he got involved with Manjaro, the leader of the gang and his nephew's father. He's only fourteen and even though he's a very talented artist his entire family are eager for him to do well at school, just in case his art career doesn't pan out. </div>
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But Lemar's life takes a turn for the unexpected when Manjaro singles him out. He wonders if he's trying to get closer to Jerome, because Lemar's sister Elaine doesn't want her violent, cheating ex anywhere near their son. He does all that he can to avoid Manjaro, but when the toughest man in South Crong asks you for a favour, it's impossible to say no... </div>
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'Liccle Bit' isn't the kind of book I would normally try. I only picked it up because the sequel, 'Crongton Knights', is on the shortlist for the YA Book Prize and I'm reading every book in the running for the award.<br />
<b>This is a realistic representation of the working class</b>, but it does verge on stereotypical at times. There's a vast spectrum of difference within the working class, and this is a very specific area to focus upon, but Alex Wheatle's focus doesn't waver.<br />
Despite the fact that Lemar isn't directly involved with the gangs at the start of the novel, they're still a prominent aspect of his life. His family are always going to be intrinsically linked to them because of Jerome, which nicely demonstrated the way that<b> the choices of your family can inadvertently impact your life</b>. It also shows the problem with living in a violent area: it permeates everything, meaning that even if you aren't part of it, you're made a part of it just because of your postcode.<br />
<b>The exploration of why people get involved with gangs is fascinating</b>. Manjaro justifies selling drugs and being violent, thinking of his crew as a kind of family. He has an all for one, one for all attitude<br />
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<b>"Every loss is our loss and every profit is our profit."</b></blockquote>
and uses his ill-gotten gains to help his 'employees' afford higher education, even teaching them maths and English while they work for him. Lemar finds this out when he stays at Manjaro's house one night after an argument with his sister. <b>When his family aren't there for him, Manjaro is</b>, which explains why people feel loyalty to gangs: they may feel as though they have no one else looking after them, and no one wants to be alone.<br />
The<b> comparisons between the gang are family are laced throughout the book</b>, and I'm looking forward to seeing if that discussion continues in the future installments. Lemar's parents are divorced, and because his father has a new wife and daughter and his mother doesn't like hearing about them, they also feel like two warring gangs.<br />
<b>Alex Wheatle is a genius when it comes to using informal language</b>. He incorporates the lingo perfectly, bringing the characters to life, even if it is a little exhausting to get your head around at the beginning. The banter between Lemar and his best friends, McKay and Jonah, had me laughing out loud at multiple points<br />
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<b>"Man! If I had ten minutes with Venetia," Jonah remarked.</b></blockquote>
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<b>"If you had ten minutes with her, you wouldn't know what to do, bruv," laughed McKay.</b></blockquote>
and it was nice to see such a great friendship between the three. They might mock and laugh at each other, but they support each other through thick and thin, and that's what's important. I also enjoyed Lemar's friendship with Venetia, though I'm not-so-secretly hoping it'll develop into more...<br />
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This is proof that you should always read outside your comfort zone. My assumptions were smashed to the ground, and I'm now looking forward to reading both 'Crongton Knights' and 'Straight Outta Crongton', the last book in the trilogy which was released earlier this month. Knowing that 'Crongton Knights' won the 2016 Guardian Children's prize, I'm expecting it to get better from here. </div>
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Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-50476558908236728422017-04-28T15:07:00.001-07:002017-04-28T15:07:51.159-07:00How To Write YA Fiction with Samantha Shannon, Melinda Salisbury and Kiran Millwood Hargrave<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit to <a href="https://twitter.com/medievaljenga">@medievaljenga</a></td></tr>
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On Wednesday 19th of April, I took a road trip to Oxford and visited Blackwell's book store for the first time. I only discovered that this event was happening the morning it took place - I recommend wasting all of your time on social media for this reason - so I dropped everything and managed to make it. I couldn't turn down the opportunity to meet these three inspirational (and very lovely!) ladies.<br />
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The discussion between the three ladies and moderator Peter Meinertzhagen - founder of the Oxford Writing Circle - went on for well over an hour. Instead of recapping everything that was said, I'm going to choose my ten favourite things that happened at this event (including some inspirational advice for aspiring authors).<br />
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<b>10. </b><b>Name dropping galore</b><br />
Peter introduced all three of the authors at the beginning of the night, sharing that they'd all participated in Oxford Writing Circle events in the past, and when they started discussing other talks they'd done they quickly came to realise that they'd all been on panels with Alwyn Hamilton, almost gushing over how much they enjoyed working with her.<br />
Later on, discussing literary writing in YA, Melinda claimed that Laini Taylor is the "master", proving that there's "room for beauty in YA" (also recommending 'The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender' by Leslye Walton).<br />
There's more than enough love to go around when it comes to YA!<br />
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<b>9. Don't tell Samantha Shannon that YA is "too gloomy"</b><br />
Peter referenced an article in which someone referred to young adult literature as "too gloomy", and Samantha was very passionate in her disregard for that mindset.<br />
"Books are dark because the outlook is bleak," she began. "I'm scared a lot of the time, and I'm not a teenager." She shared the fact that she's often "overwhelmed with darkness" and awfulness when she encounters the news and understands that young people feel the same, which is why they need to be able to read realistic books. "Dark things are happening. There's nothing dark in young adult fiction that hasn't happened in real life".<br />
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<b>8. Sarah J. Maas is changing the YA game</b><br />
When asked what makes YA, there was a bit of a debate. Shannon said it was harder for her to know, because 'The Bone Season' is actually marketed as adult more frequently than YA (because Paige, the protagonist, is 19) so she's "not asked to tone down" her writing often.<br />
Kiran shared a story about 'The Island at the End of Everything' - her recently released second novel - in which she was "asked to tone down some of the more overt nastiness" because of the age of her readers. She laughed as she admitted that her editor told her that the end of the novel "left [her] with a profound sense of hopelessness".<br />
But while they couldn't definitively state what made YA, all three authors agreed that the use of sex in YA is changing rapidly.<br />
Shannon referenced Sarah J. Maas, saying that she's "pushing boundaries of what can and can't come into it" with her sexually charged scenes in 'A Court of Mist and Fury'. Melinda agreed, but also nodded her head towards fanfiction, claiming it's "changed the rules. Teens want to read about sex scenes, not fade to black, but sex they're actually having," and the popularity of fanfiction that features those scenes shows there's a demand for sex in books for teenagers.<br />
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<b>7. YA is more plot driven that adult fiction</b><br />
The debate about how young adult and adult fiction differ continued later in the night.<br />
Samantha told us how the editor who worked on 'The Bone Season' and 'The Mime Order' was on maternity leave during 'The Song Rising', so she worked with Melinda Salisbury's editor instead. Her aim was to "slim it down and make sure it's focused", which led to a book that's so fast-paced it's exhausting: a direct contrast in her experiences with the adult and young adult editing procedures.<br />
Melinda agreed, stating that young adult is more plot driven because "life as a teen is more plot driven" so "more happens in less pages [at a] slightly faster pace" because the teenage years are a "very definitive fast lane for a short length of time".<br />
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<b>6. Every author's "first book is the book [they] needed."</b><br />
When Peter mentioned that statistically, <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/68083-nielsen-summit-shows-the-data-behind-the-children-s-book-boom.html">80% of YA is acquired by people aged 25 and over</a>, Melinda was quick to respond. She shared that the only YA she had when she was growing up were books written by R.L. Stine, and the Babysitter's Club, which is one of the reasons she can't get enough of it as an adult.<br />
Kiran agreed, saying that her favourite novel as a teenager was Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' because there wasn't really any fiction aimed at teenagers (apart from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials). To this, Melinda shared that 'The Sin Eater's Daughter' is "the book [she] desperately needed as a teenager", stating that "every first book is the book you needed".<br />
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<b>5. YA fantasy is vastly under-appreciated</b><br />
Melinda quipped that "as a YA genre writer, I might as well be dead sometimes". She celebrated 'The Hate U Give' and 'Asking For It', both contemporary YA novels that have broken into the mainstream with a huge impact, but Kiran agreed that for YA to be thought of as necessary it "must be issue driven".<br />
"YA fantasy is doing so many important things and not getting noticed," Samantha added. "If they were adult fiction, they'd be heralded as 'the next big thing'".<br />
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<b>4. Melinda. Salisbury.</b><br />
Don't get me wrong, I love Kiran and Shannon too. But Melinda Salisbury is absolutely hilarious, and she stole the show at this event. I've wanted to meet her for so long (mostly because of Steph from <a href="https://alittlebutalot.wordpress.com/">A Little But A Lot</a>, who is her biggest fan) and I was blown away by how down to earth she is: I was shaking with nerves before approaching her, but she quickly put me at ease and I didn't feel like an idiot even though we were talking for quite a while!<br />
Mel came out with a lot of brilliant quotes throughout the night, but my personal favourite was when she admitted that if she didn't write YA she'd be writing "raunchy, Mills and Boon nana stuff". Well, someone's got to do it!<br />
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For the last question of the night, Peter asked all three authors if they could offer one piece of advice for writing YA, so their responses have to make up the top three:<br />
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<b>3. Kiran Millwood Hargrave: "Write the book that you need to write. Leave the marketing to someone else."</b><br />
Having shared that she started writing 'The Girl of Ink and Stars' with no idea who she was writing it for, it really doesn't matter if you don't have a target audience in mind as soon as you pick up your pen or start typing.<br />
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<b>2. Samantha Shannon: "Don't be afraid to experiment. Write weird stuff. It's important that we keep breaking boundaries."</b><br />
'The Bone Season' sounds like it's impossible to compare to any other book out there, so it's important to think outside the box when you're writing.<br />
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<b>1. Melinda Salisbury: "Finish your book. Just finish it! You can't be a writer if you can't finish a book."</b><br />
Melinda was almost shouting as she cajoled the aspiring authors in the room, and she's not someone you want to disappoint! She also shared a second piece of advice, saying "Don't compare your first draft to a published book," admitting, "I would be nothing without my editorial team". Roughly finishing your story is much better than completely polishing just a chapter or two.<br />
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I'd like to say a big thank you to Melinda, Kiran, Shannon and Peter for having such an insightful and thought-provoking discussion, and to Blackwell's for being so welcoming. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for more events there in the future.Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-5460538359538240262017-04-27T03:04:00.000-07:002017-04-27T03:04:26.073-07:00TRAVEL THURSDAY: Te Papa TongarewaToday, AJ's sharing some thoughts from Te Papa Tongarewa, which he visited last weekend.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While I was in Wellington the weekend just gone, I found myself with a sizable amount of free time and decided to go to one of the cities prime attractions. Located by the foreshore, the Te Papa Tongarewa is the National Museum of New Zealand, and the experience was fantastic. I spent hours trawling through the replicas of early settler ships, and spiritual Maori temples, and deeply enjoyed the entire floor dedicated to earthquakes, tsunamis and natural phenomenons. As someone who has lived through a massive 7.3 earthquake and its aftershocks, I found their earthquake simulator very accurate.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What moved me the most, however, was the main attraction. Currently, there is a very unique exhibition called Gallipoli - The Scale of Our War, which, thanks to local movie masters Weta Workshop ('Lords of the Rings', 'Mad Max: Fury Road', 'Deadpool') utilizes music, film and traditional media to tell the story of eight people involved in the failed Gallipoli Campaign of World War I, which claimed the lives of 8,709 Australians and 2,701 New Zealanders on Turkish grounds.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As soon as you walk into the exhibit you are greeted with a sized up 3D model of an unnamed man firing his gun while wounded, and the first thing that strikes you is just how visual it is. The level of detail is incredible: every crease in their face, every hair on their arm, every drop of sweat on their brow looks incredibly lifelike and eerie. Their faces are as emotive as you or I, and straight away that takes you out of your own experiences and into the stories of these men (and one nurse).</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">From there you follow through this labyrinth, reading all the displays at will. All the stories come out at you: the stench in the trenches and the horrible state of food, latrine pits people were too exhausted to get out of if they fell in, the general horrors of war - all of which are interactive and fully immersive. There's one section where you're walking through a representation of some of the trenches, and on hidden screens recordings of Turkish soldiers would run out and shoot you. I felt like I had made a latrine pit of my pants after stumbling upon that.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">O</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">f the stories, two in particular caught my eye. The giant figure of Percival Fenwick - a surgeon who knew the side effects of war, having fought in the Boer War of South Africa prior to World War I - had an immediate effect on me. He was perched over a dead body, coat over his head, and was staring down. His eyes were haunting, showing subtle sadness, the sweat on his forehead shining in the lights of the exhibit. After witnessing the goliath, you were taken through his own life, through messages he wrote home. The voice played over on repeat, subtle enough not to distract you from reading, but striking enough to cause your throat to tighten. The horrors of war come to life.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The other was the personal story of Sister Lottie Le Gallais, a nurse who was sent to Gallipoli to help mend the troops. She was hoping to see her brother Leddie, who was fighting at Chunuk Bair. Every few days she'd send him a message, and in one of the last she sent she said "I don't know when these will get to you, perhaps we will meet before then." When she arrived, however, she was presented with all of her letters. Leddie had died, four months prior. Her statue has her in her moment of sadness, the tears on her face looking as real as mine were.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The exhibit ends by having the patrons write their own memories on a poppy and throwing it into a pit beneath a private solemnly preparing to go back to war, a few months after the end of the Gallipoli campaign, in Somme.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">With ANZAC Day - a public holiday in Australia and New Zealand commemorating the start of the Gallipoli campaign - passing recently, I cannot thank Te Papa and Weta Workshop enough for this truly incredible exhibit. Previously I had difficult trying to empathize, blessed by my life of multiculturalism and high speed internet. It felt less like a boring museum piece and more like being taken through a truly cinematic experience; I've never visited anything like it before.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The First World War was really the first time Australia and New Zealand fought in their independence, and it's impossible to live here without seeing how Gallipoli shaped these countries over a century later. One day I hope to visit Turkey, the Gallipoli peninsula especially. It's thanks to the sacrifices these men made that I can have that opportunity. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them. </span></blockquote>
Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211423323947174164.post-34654268703278858792017-04-26T16:29:00.002-07:002017-04-26T16:29:52.020-07:00'Margot & Me' by Juno Dawson<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b>*This review will contain spoilers!*</b></div>
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<b>"Over time, we teach ourselves to stop feeling. It's the only way we survive." She taps her breastbone with her index finger. "It all becomes scar tissue and gristle. It's such a shame. So just let yourself feel it, truthfully and wholly, because one day you won't any more."</b></blockquote>
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<b>"But I don't want to feel like this. It really hurts." My voice crackles.</b></blockquote>
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<b>"It's better than nothing at all. Believe you me."</b></blockquote>
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<b>"The problem with young people today," Margot said about an hour ago, "is that, from birth, every single one has been told that they are somehow special."</b></blockquote>
Well, you can't argue with that assertion. Margot's not a fan of special snowflake syndrome.<br />
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Fliss and her mum have gone to live in Wales with her grandmother, Margot, for six months, while Janet recovers from ovarian cancer. Fliss is unimpressed: she misses her friends and her sort-of-boyfriend Xander, and she's not a fan of the dirty farm or the aloof and unemotional Margot.<br />
Things change when Fliss finds Margot's diary in a dusty old chest in the attic. Fliss loves sixteen-year-old Margot, and can't wait to see how her story got her to where she is today: she was in love with a man who wasn't Fliss's grandfather, and Fliss can't understand how their seemingly perfect relationship could have failed.<br />
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One thing severely hampered my enjoyment of this novel: <b>it was riddled with errors</b>. I always try to refrain from judging books too harshly for mistakes, but that's because I'm normally reading advance reader's copies and those aren't final. This one was.<br />
I've left it a few days to write this review, because <b>I felt very conflicted</b>. I enjoyed the letters that told Margot's story, but <b>Fliss didn't really have her own plot</b>. Everything that happened to her was because of other people: she had a crush on the school librarian which she only got past when he rejected her; she only matured because of her mother's illness; her respect for Margot only developed because she discovered her diary. I can't think of one aspect of her character that she developed herself.<br />
<b>I was only interested in Margot's diary</b>, and at multiple points I actually considered jumping to the next one. Fliss's reaction didn't add anything to the story for me, and it explains why this novel is so much longer than Juno's previous releases: there was lots of unnecessary waffle. If I hadn't been looking after my friend's cat with no access to the internet, it would have taken me a lot longer to crawl through this book. Similarly, if this story had just focused on Margot and being an evacuated teenager, it would have been five stars. Juno really brings the era to life, and <b>the tense atmosphere of a country at war is beautifully crafted</b>.<br />
But as soon as it gets to the present plot, everything falls apart. <b>I</b> <b>couldn't understand why it was set in the late 90's</b>. It didn't add anything to the plot, and the stereotypical references got old very fast. I can only imagine this was chosen to allow Fliss to be the same age as Margot in her diary entries, but that's a shallow reason. It doesn't feel as though Juno had any love for the decade, because at multiple points it feels like it could be set today - it's not authentic.<br />
<b>So many aspects don't make sense looking back</b>. What was the point in Peanut the piglet? Yes, he caused more conflict between Margot and Fliss, but then he just disappeared into the background. What was the point of that weird chapter where Fliss did her make-up and then smashed her lipstick in the mirror? I didn't sit comfortably with any other part of the story and it was another thing that did nothing to the plot. That's why the synopsis I've written above is so short - no other aspect of the story seems relevant enough to mention.<br />
<b>This book was just a mess</b>. On top of everything else, it's forgettable: I've been reading back through my notes, and while I felt all warm and fuzzy at the time and was certain that it deserved a high rating, I have no way of justifying that anymore. This is another reason I've been putting off this review, because I hoped that my love for it would come back... <b>I'm just confused about how my feelings have changed so quickly</b>. It might have been because I loved 'All of the Above' and just assumed I was going to love this one too, but that's another reason I held off on reviewing it.<br />
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It's not Juno's fault that the copy edit wasn't up to scratch, and if I'd been reviewing this as an ARC I might have been able to overlook it, but as a finished edition I couldn't let it go. If that had been the only problem, it wouldn't have had too much of an impact on my enjoyment, but unfortunately there was far more bad than good in this book. </div>
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I decided to give it a four star rating as soon as I finished it - it's very emotional, and my knee-jerk reaction was that it was almost perfect. </div>
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Sadly, with a couple of days of reflection I've had to drop it down to two stars: I see hardly any positive aspects in hindsight. Disappointing, but necessary. I can't award a book a high rating just because I really loved the author's previous work.</div>
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Alyce Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168871097781766850noreply@blogger.com0