My so-called Phantom Lovelife - Tamsyn Murray

My so-called phantom lovelife is a wonderful read for anyone who loves paranormal young adult fiction!

It is the fascinating tale of a girl called Skye, who was born with a fantastic psychic ability. Skye uses her skills for good by working at the 'Dearly Departed' spiritualist church, here she helps spirits pass over to the astral plane. She sees ghosts everywhere she goes and when a ghost called Owen alerts Skye to her drowning friend in the lake, they hit it off straight away. She begins to get to know Owen, he is a beautiful teenage boy with a noticeable scar on his face. Skye is curious because she knows that ghosts only stay on this earth if they have unfinished business or died tragically. Owen soon reveals that he had fallen through the ice, which he stepped on for a dare, during the snow . He has a mourning sister who visits the scene of the accident regularly, but Owen can't do anything to comfort her. Skye teaches Owen how to move away from the lake by carrying a pebble with him. But when Skye gets closer to Owen than her professional capacity allows she tries to encourage Owen to let go of this world and move onto the astral plane. Owen refuses point blanc and no amount of Skye talking to him will change his mind. In despair she resorts to getting back together with her ex, Nico. Nico is a member of the evil cult 'The Solomanarii' which promise ghosts a way to stay on this earth by enslaving them to the cult. This is Owen's dream ticket... can Skye stop him in time?

Tantalizingly twisting this book is very addictive. It is infact the third book in the series which includes (My so-called afterlife and My so-called haunting). I haven't read either of the previous books but I came against no problems in slipping straight into this one. I would read the others in the series because I enjoyed this book a lot.  There were certain characters which I would have liked to see have a bigger role in the plot: like Mary. Mary is an ancient ghost of a witch, I think she could have been used a lot more for comedy purposes rather than just appearing occasionally to remind the reader that it is actually different to any other teen novel. About half way through the plot you stop thinking of Owen as a real ghost but as just a normal boy, this was quite misleading sometimes. Also the scene where she gets back together with Nico is slightly unrealistic considering she knows he is part of an evil cult? I wouldn't take someone back who was in that kind of group, no matter how 'normal' he makes it sound! I give this book a fantastic four stars!

The Truth about Celia Frost - Paula Rawsthorne

The Truth about Celia Frost is utterly captivating, It traps you within its pages and won't let you go until you have read it cover-to-cover. It is the story of a girl named Celia, she lives with her Mum Janice. Celia is sick, she has a rare blood disorder which means if she has the tiniest cut: the cut will never close, and she could bleed to death. She is also sick of the solitude her disorder brings her. She endures terrible bullying at school: universally known as 'Freak'. Meanwhile, Janice is living in constant panic about Celia and worries intensely. But when Celia is involved in a stab attack at school, something strange happens and it puts light on a whole new scenario. It's a secret so terrible that Celia can barely believe it, but is it true...?

...The wounds sealed by themselves...

On the other side of the city, A women who is code-named 'Nemo' instructs private investigator Frankie to find the mother and daughter. She strings him along with the promise of a heavy pay check, but will she push him too far? The character of Frankie is very mysterious, he became a private investigator after being chucked out of the police force for corrupt practice. He is being instructed to find and follow Celia and Janice, but is there more to him? Or is he just the 'baddie'?

This book had me absolutely drawn in from the ominous title, to the very last paragraph. Paula Rawsthorne leads you to several different conclusions during the plot, and you are wrong every time until the very end! I must have thought up at least seven different theories about Celia until I found out the truth!

Celia meets the mysterious boy Sol through a near death experience, yet another wake up call. He becomes the perfect excuse to get out more. It's the perfect match and they spend afternoons by the lake as he teaches Celia how to swim and become more of a teenager. Sol tries to shed light on Celia's mother's strange ways, but is he right? Celia begins to play mind games with Janice and forces her into letting her go out, blinded by rage and unaware of the hurt she is causing. Or the danger she is putting them both in.

A must read... five stars!

Meeting Matt Haigh

In my town every year there is a literature festival, and it is usually a community 'cup of tea and scone' affair. This year me and my friend went to see Matt Haigh (author of 'The Radleys').

I have read the book, it is about a family of vampires trying to be normal while their mad uncle is the typical Dracula type. They hide the fact that they're vampires from their kids so they develop terrible rashes. It is a book that I would rate 3 stars- it wasn't great, could of been better.

But I went to meet Matt, hoping that what he'd say would compel me to flick through again! Or that there was another aspect to the book I missed completely. So (tea in hand) myself and a friend went to listen to what had to be said! Matt was unlucky, he started Writing the book before the Twilight phenomenon started, and finished and published it during the twilight boom. This must have been hard, to have your unique and wonderful idea of vampires demonified by an aisle of books with bite! The name 'Radleys' came from 'to kill a mocking bird''s Boo Radley who was a mysterious, shady character and a definite outsider. Matt spoke about the link between these characteristics and the way his vampire clan feel. Later, he described the places where he had set the book (a mixture of local villages near us). He then read a chapter and submitted himself into book signing.

It was a good night, but I don't think I'll re-read The Radleys, it just doesn't appeal to me. It was really interesting hearing about how the book came to be published and how the idea came to him.

Still here!

Hey guys,
Just to say I am still here and blogging! It's been a hectic few weeks and I have been non-stop! Been asked to write a few things for my other blog and some charities too! My other blog is: www.smallprintlarger.blogspot.com in case you want to be nosy! Thanks for following the blog and I hope to have something for you to read soon :)

Dizzythinker

Stone Cold - Robert Swindells

For Link life is tough. His mum gets her new boyfriend, Vince - a drunken fool who is violent and cruel.  Vince used to Lock Link out of the house at night and turn his mum against him. Then he isn't welcome anywhere - not even at his sister Carole's house because of her moody boyfriend Chris. To top it all off he was given a sleeping bag for Christmas. So Link sets off in search of a better life on the streets of London - he wants a flat, job, friends and to be happy. After struggling with mad landlords, muggers, job centers and cold winter nights he meets Ginger. Ginger could be the answer to all his problems - just her smile makes him feel warmer even in the coldest winter night. But Link better watch out: mentally unstable Shelter could be at every turn. Shelter is ex-army and on a private mission to 'save' the country from homeless people. His techniques to do so may not be classed as law abiding or humane though...

Another Robert Swindells Book that I have enjoyed, Robert is clearly an exceptional writer. This book will make you laugh and cry. This addresses the growing issue of homeless people in the UK perfectly. Shelter is a very complex but brilliant character and Link is very charming too. You must read this book because there are lots of amazing surprise twists! A Fabulous Five star!

Abomination - Robert Swindells

Martha is a good girl. She wears the dresses her Mother makes her, and receives her Dad's beatings gracefully. She says her prayers and is a quiet girl. She is a good member of the righteous church and looks after abomination well. Under no accounts would she be friends with a boy! Surely not? Scott is new in town and trying to make the most of being at a new school, it's a clean slate and anything could happen. Why then, does he make friends with Martha the weird religious old-fashioned kid? But he can't help it: he thinks Martha could be his true love. Martha comes with strings attached though:

1. Kids chase her home from school everyday yelling 'Raggedy Anne' after her because, apparently, she looks like one of those hideous dolls.
2. Her parents possibly beat her. they are so strange!
3. She looks after abomination. A secret which he is going to struggle to keep.

This book was excellent. We read it at school last year and it has stuck with me, it is an amazingly powerful plot. Abomination is dual narrated and is all about Martha and Scott and their rapidly changing lives. You become very affectionate towards the characters and it is absolutely un-put-downable read! I love it, I love it, I love it! I give it five stars for an amazing tale!

Life at the Shallow End - Helen Bailey

Life at the shallow end has been on my list of 'to reads' for a while so I finally got round to picking it up. It is a classic young adult fiction and is based around Electra Brown who is a teenager and is sensitive about her looks and desperate for a guy called Jags to notice her. Electra has two best friends: Sorrell and Lucy. Sorrell is a forced vegetarian and spends all her money on buying meat and Lucy has the perfect home and family and is forced to be very tidy. Electra's life goes into meltdown when her dad announces he is leaving: but why? She has to find out!

I found this book a bit tedious at times. I couldn't help but compare Electra to Georgia Nicholson from 'Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging'. In my opinion the plot and characters are too similar to Louise Rennison's books. Even down to the fine details like in Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging there is a snog scale, In Life at the Shallow End there is a snogability scale which is more metaphorical. Also there is the whole 'Dad leaving' scenario which also occurs in both books. I know I probably shouldn't compare the two but they are too similar for my liking. But on the other hand it did have a few laughs in it - and made me smile.  


I found this book funny but I got really bored in some parts I'm afraid. I give it One star.